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SPECIAL  METHOD 


OF 

COMPLETE  ENGLISH  CLASSICS 

IN  THE  GRADES 

OF  THE  COMMON  SCHOOL 

BY 
CHARLES  A.  McMURRY,  Ph.D. 


FOURTH    EDITION. 


PUBLIC-SCHOOL  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

BLOOMINGTON,  ILLINOIS 

J899 


Copyright,  1894. 
BY  C.  A.  McMuRRY,  NORMAL,,  ILL. 


Press  of 

Pantograph  Printing  and  Stationery  Co., 

Bloomington,  III. 


library 


10 

TO  THE   FOLLOWING    TEACHERS    WITH    WHOM    THE    IDEAS    TREATED    IN 

ITS  PAGES  WERE  DISCUSSED  IN 

ROUND  TABLE  CONFERENCES  IN  CHICAGO.      THEIR  STRONG 
INTEREST  IN  THE  PROBLEMS  RAISED  AND 

THEIR  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS, 
SPRINGING   FROM  THEIR  LONG   EXPERIENCE  IN 

SCHOOLS,   HAVE  BEEN 
VERT  HELPFUL  AND  ENCOURAGING. 

P.  R.  WALKER,   '  .             .              Rockford,  111. 

O.  T  BRIGHT,     .  .             .           Chicago.  111. 

W.  H.  HATCH,  .             .               Oak  Park,  111. 

N.  D.  GILBERT.  .             .             Austin,  111. 

H.  H.  KINGSLEY,  .               .                 Evanston,  111. 

J.  H.  FREEMAN,  .             .             Aurora,  111. 

A.  V.  GREENMAN,  .             .             .      Aurora,  111. 

F.  E.  SANFORD.  .             .       La  Grange,  111. 

F.  H.  HALL,  .             .              Waukegan,  111. 

ROB'T  McKAT,  .             .      Blue  Island,  111. 

C.  W.  MINARD,  .                Maywood,  111. 


PREFACE. 

This  little  book  is  a  continuation  of  the  series 
of  Special  Methods,  of  which  it  is  the  third  num- 
ber. The  Special  Method  in  Literature  and  His- 
tory is  a  preparation  for  this  book.  It  deals  with 
the  oral  treatment  of  fairy  stories,  Crusoe,  and 
myths  before  the  children  are  old  enough  to  read 
them  and  prepares  them  for  the  reading  discussed 
in  this  book. 

The  effort  to  gather  into  a  rising  series  the 
best  classic  products  of  our  English  tongue  and  to 
appropriate  them  to  direct  school  purposes  is 
very  inspiring.  It  opens  up  a  field  of  great  rich- 
ness and  culture  to  both  teachers  and  children. 
If  all  our  teachers  in  the  common  schools  should 
read  with  thoughtful  appreciation  ten  or  a  dozen 
of  the  best  books  in  the  series,  it  would  surely 
improve  the  teaching  in  all  our  schools  by  twenty- 
five  per  cent. 

The  best  literature  suited  to  the  grades  has  a 
variety  of  close  and  vital  relations  to  nearly  all 
the  other  studies  as,  for  example,  to  history,  ge- 
ography, natural  science,  and  language.  Since 
literature  is  so  elevating  and  so  many-sided  in  its 
culture  influence,  it  supplies  a  solid  basis  for  the 
correlation  and  unification  of  studies  now  so  much 
discussed.  The  other  books  of  the  series  can  be 
seen  in  the  price  list  at  the  end  of  this  book. 

NORMAL,  ILLINOIS,  Sept.  1,  1895. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  PAGES 

The  Value  of  Complete  Classic  Masterpieces  in  the  Common 

School, 7 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Literature  of  the  First  Four  Grades,   .       .          .          .          .      -J 

CHAPTER  III. 
Literary  and  Historical  Materials  in  the  Four  Grades  from 

Fifth  to  Eighth  Inclusive,  ......      38 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Value  of  Classics  to  the  Teacher,       .... 


CHAPTER  V. 
Method  in  Primary  Grades,    .......      80 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Class-room  Method  in  Reading,       ..... 

CHAPTER  VII. 

List  of  Books— Suggestions,    ...... 


CHAPTER  I. 

The   Value  of   Complete   Classic   Masterpieces  in   the 
Common  School. 

The  purpose  to  introduce  complete  classics  as 
readers  into  each  grade  of  the  common  school  is 
the  controlling1  thought  in  the  following  chapters. 
In  the  first  two  or  three  grades,  it  may  not  be 
possible  to  execute  fully  this  plan,  but  the  inquiry 
to  what  extent  it  maybe  done,  even  here,  is  worth 
serious  thought  and  experiment. 

What  is  a  classic?  One  of  the  elements  that 
goes  into  its  make-up  is  an  important,  underlying, 
permanent  truth.  Whether  written  today  or  per- 
chance in  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  it  must  contain 
lasting  qualities  that  do  not  fade  away  or  bleach 
out  or  decay.  Time  and  weather  do  not  stain  or 
destroy  its  merit.  Some  classics,  as  Gray's  Elegy 
or  Thanatopsis,  are  like  cut  diamonds.  The  quality 
that  gives  them  force  and  brilliancy  is  inherent, 
and  the  form  in  which  they  appear  has  -been 
wrought  out  by  an  artist.  The  fundamental  value 
of  a  classic  is  the  deep,  significant  truth  which, 
like  the  grain  in  fine  woods,  is  wrought  into  their 
very  structure.  The  artist  who  moulds-  a  master- 
piece like  Enoch  Arden  or  The  Scarlet  Letter  is 


M<  tltod. 

not  a  writer  of  temporary  fame.  The  truth  to 
which  he  feels  impelled  to  give  expression  is 
strong,  natural,  human  truth,  which  has  no  begin- 
ning and  no  end.  It  is  true  forever.  Schiller's 
William  Tell,  though  idealized,  is  a  human  hero 
with  the  hearty  thoughts  of  a  real  man.  Shylock 
is  a  Jew  of  flesh  and  blood,  who  will  laugh  if  he  is 
tickled,  and  break  into  anger  if  he  is  thwarted. 
The  true  poet  builds  upon  eternal  foundations. 
The  book-maker  or  rhymer  is  satisfied  with  empty 
or  fleeting  thoughts  and  with  a  passing  notoriety. 
New  books  are  often  caught  up  and  blazoned  as 
classics  which  a  few  years  reveal  as  patchwork 
and  tinsel.  Time  is  a  sure  test.  Showy  tinsel 
rusts  and  dulls  its  lustre,  while  simple  poetic 
truth  shines  with  growing  brightness. 

But  truth  in  poetic  dress  is  an  object  of  suspi- 
cion to  many  people.  If  it  were  plain, ungarnished, 
even  ugly,  they  could  give  it  a  heartier  reception, 
as  being  closer  to  the  real  and  practical.  But  true 
poetry  stands  closer  to  real  life  and  in  quicker 
touch  with  the  daily  motives  of  conduct  than  peo- 
ple dream.  How  far  away  and  unpractical  to  the 
unbeliever  are  the  poetic  truths  of  Scripture;  how 
fundamental  and  strong  and  real  they  are  when 
wrought  in.to  the  conduct  of  a  faithful  witness. 
It  is  profoundly  well  with  us  when  we  see  truth 
not  only  in  its  strength  but  in  its  beauty.  It  is  the 
magic  of  literary  artists  to  reveal  truth  to  pupils 
and  teachers  in  this  double  potency. 


There  is  no  form  of  inspiring  truth  which  does 
not  find  expression  in  literature,  but  it  is  first  of 
all  a  revelation  of  human  life  and  experience,  a 
proclamation  from  the  housetops  of  the  supreme 
beauty  and  excellence  of  truth  and  virtue. 

Classics  are  of  strong1  and  lasting"  value  to  the 
schools  because  they  bring  out  human  conduct  and 
character  in  a  rich  variety  of  forms  correspond- 
ing to  life.  Against  the  background  of  scenery 
created  by  the  poet,  men  and  women  and  children 
march  along  to  their  varied  performances.  The- 
seus, Ulysses,  Crusoe,  Aladdin,  Alfred,  Horatius, 
Cinderella,  Portia,  Evangeline — they  speak  and 
act  before  us  with  all  the  realism  and  fidelity  to 
human  instincts  peculiar  to  the  poet's  art.  These 
men  and  women,  who  are  set  in  action  before  us, 
stir  up  ail  our  dormant  thought-energy.  We 
observe  and  judge  their  motives  and  approve  or 
condemn  their  actions.  We  are  stirred  to  sym- 
pathy or  pity  or  anger.  Such  an  intense  'study  of 
motives  and  conduct,  as  offered  in  literature,  is 
like  a  fresh  spring  from -which  well  up  healing 
waters.  The  warmth  and  energy  with  which  judg- 
ments are  passed  upon  the  deeds  of  children  and 
adults  is  the  original  source  of  moral  ideas.  Liter- 
ature is  especially  rich  in  opportunities  to  regis- 
ter these  convictions.  It  is  not  the  bare  knowl- 
edge of  right  and  wrong  developed,  but  the  deep 
springs  of  feeling  and  emotion  are  opened, which 
gush  up  into  volitions  and  acts. 


10  Special  Method. 

Just  as  we  form  opinions  of  people  from  their 
individual  acts,  and  draw  inferences  as  to  their 
character  and  motives,  so  the  overt  act  of  Brutus 
or  of  Miles  Standish  stands  out  so  clear  against 
the  background  of  passing  events  that  an  uner- 
ring judgment  falls  upon  the  doer.  A  single  act, 
seen  in  its  relations,  always  calls  forth  such  a  sen- 
tence of  good  or  ill.  Whether  it  be  a  gentle  deed 
of  mercy,  or  the  hammer-stroke  that  fells  a  giant 
or  routs  an  army,  as  with  Charles  Martel  or  Al- 
fred's war-cry,  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong  is  the 
deep  underflow  that  gives  meaning  to  all  events 
and  stamps  character. 

There  is,  however,  a  deeper  and  more  intense 
moral  teaching  in  literature  than  that  which  flows 
from  the  right  or  wrong  of  individual  acts.  The 
whole  life  and  evolution  of  character  in  a  person, 
if  graphically  drawn,  reveal  the  principles  of  con- 
duct and  their  fruitage.  Character  is  a  growth. 
Deeds  are  only  the  outward  signs  of  the  direction 
in  which  the  soul  is  moving.  A  dramatist  like 
Shakespeare,  or  a  novelist  like  George  Eliot,  gives 
us  a  biographical  development.  Deeds  are  done 
which  leave  their  traces.  Tendencies  are  formed 
which  grow  into  habits,  and  thus  a  character  rip- 
ens steadily  towards  its  reward.  We  become  con- 
scious that  certain  deeper  principles  control 
thought  and  action,  whether  good  or  bad.  There 
is  a  rule  of  law,  a  sort  of  fatalism,  in  human  life. 
"The  mills  of  the  gods  grind  slow,  but  they  grind 


Beading.  11 

exceedingly  small. "  It  is  the  function  of  the 
dramatist  or  novelist  to  reveal  these  working 
principles  in  conduct.  When  the  principle 
adopted  by  the  actor  is  a  good  one,  it  works 
out  well-being  in  spite  of  misfortunes;  when  evil, 
the  furies  are  on  the  track  of  the  evil  doer.  Men 
do  not  gather  grapes  of  thorns  or  figs  of  thistles. 
As  we  move  on  from  step  to  step  in  a  life  history, 
the  sympathy  deepens.  The  fatal  influence  of  a 
false  step,  followed  up,  is  keenly  felt  by  the  reader; 
the  upward  tendency  of  a  right  act  inspires  and 
lifts  into  freedom.  But  whether  we  love  or  hate 
or  pity,  the  character  moves  on  in  the  course 
which  his  deeds  mark  out.  When  finally  he  is 
overwhelmed  in  shame  and  defeat,  we  see  the 
early  tendencies  and  later  forces  which  have  led 
to  this  result.  If  final  triumph  is  achieved,  we 
recognize  the  reward  of  generous,  unselfish  im- 
pulses followed  out. 

As  the  interest  in  such  a  life-history  deepens 
the  lessons  it  evolves  come  out  with  convincing 
and  overwhelming  power.  The  effect  of  a  great 
novel  or  drama  is  more  intense  and  lasting  than 
any  sermon.  The  elements  of  thought  and  feel- 
ing have  been  accumulating  energy  and  momen- 
tum through  all  the  scenes,  and  when  contracted 
into  a  single  current  at  the  close  they  sweep 
forward  with  the  strength  of  a  river.  A  master- 
piece wrorks  at  the  foundations  of  our  sympathies 
and  moral  judgments.  To  bring  ourselves  under 


12  Social  Method. 

the  spell  of  a  great  author  and  to  allow  him, 
hour  after  hour  and  perhaps  for  days  in  succes- 
sion, to  sway  our  feelings  and  rule  far  up  among 
the  sources  of  our  moral  judgments,  is  to  give  him 
great  opportunity  to  stamp  our  character  with 
his  convictions.  We  seldom  spend  so  many  hours 
in  close  companionship  with  a  living"  friend  as 
with  some  master  of  the  art  of  character-delinea- 
tion. Children  are  susceptible  to  this  mighty  in- 
fluence. Many  of  them  take  to  books  easily,  and 
many  others  need  but  wise  direction  to  bring"  them 
under  the  touch  of  the  same  formative  influences. 
A  book  sometimes  produces  a  more  lasting"  effect 
upon  the  character  and  conduct  of  a  child  than  a 
close  companion.  Nor  is  this  true  only  in  the  case 
of  book-lovers.  It  is  probable  that  the  great  ma- 
jority of  children  may  feel  the  wholesome  effect  of 
such  books  if  wisely  used  at  the  right  time.  To  se- 
lect a  few  of  the  best  books  as  companions  to  a 
child  and  teach  him  to  love  their  companionship  is 
one  of  the  most  hopeful  things  in  education.  The 
boy  or  girl  who  reads  some  of  our  choice  epics, 
stories,  novels,  dramas,  and  biographies,  allowing 
the  mind  to  ponder  upon  the  problems  of  conduct 
involved,  will  receive  many  deep  and  permanent 
moral  lessons.  The  realism  with  which  the  artist 
clothes  his  characters  only  strengthens  the  effect 
and  makes  them  lasting  food  for  thought  in  the 
coming  years.  Even  in  early  childhood  we  are 
able  to  detect  clearly  wrhat  is  noble  and  debasing 


Reading.  13 

in  conduct  as  thus  graphically  revealed,  and  a 

:  Id  fells  an  unerring-  judgment  along  moral  lines. 

The  best  influence  that  literature  has  to  bestow, 

therefore,  may  produce  its  effect  early  in  tender 

,  rs,  where  impressions  are  deep  and  permanent. 

s  our  aim  to  choose  and  employ  such  books 

;y  with   children  even  of  the   three   primary 

There  are  many  other  elements  of  last- 

<-ulture-value  in  the  study  of  literature,  but 

it  of  all  the  deep  and  permanent  truths  taught 

the  classics  are  those  of  human  life  and  con- 

t.     These  are  the  greatest  and  simplest  prob- 

?ms  for  human  souls  to  ponder. 

Besides   the   moral    element,  or  fundamental 
ruth   involved,  every  classic  masterpiece   is  in- 
fused with  an  element  of  fancy.    Whether  in  prose 
4  erse  the  artist  reveals  himself  in  the  creative 
touch.     The  rich  coloring  and  imagery  of  his  own 
mind  give   a  tint  to  every  object.     The  literary 
ist  is  never  lacking  in  a  certain,  perhaps,  inde- 
finable charm.      He  possesses  a  magic  wand  that 
rms  into  beauty  every  commonplace  object 
that  is  met.    We  observe  this  in  Irving,  Hawthorne, 
Warner,  as  well  as  in  still  greater  literary  mas- 
ters.     Our  poets,  novelists,   and  essayists  must 
all  dip  their  pens  in  this  magic  ink.      Even  Web- 
ster and  Burke,  Lincoln  and  Sumner,  must  rise  to 
t.H-  region  of  fancy  if  they  give  their  thought  suf- 
fl          -rrength  of  wing  to  carry  it  into  the  coming 
The  themes  upon  which  they  discoursed 


14 

kindled  the  imagination  and  caused  them  to  break 
forth  into  figures  of  speech  and  poetic  license. 
The  creative  fancy  is  that  which  gives  beauty, 
picturesqueness,  and  charm  to  all  the  work  of 
poet  or  novelist.  This  element  of  fancy  diffuses 
itself  as  a  living  glow  through  every  classic  pro- 
duct that  was  made  to  endure.  In  the  masters  of 
style  the  rythmic  flow  and  energy  of  language  are 
enlivened  by  poetic  imagery.  Figures  of  speech 
in  architectural  simplicity  and  chasteness  stand 
out  to  symbolize  thought.  That  keenness  and 
originality  which  astonishes  us  in  master  thinkers 
is  due  to  the  magic  vigor  and  picturesqueness  of 
their  images.  Underneath  and  permeating  all 
this  wealth  of  ideas  is  the  versatile  and  original 
mind  which  sees  everything  in  the  glow  of  its  own 
poetic  temperament,  kindling  the  susceptible 
reader  to  like  inspiration.  Among  literary  mas- 
ters the  power  of  fancy  shows  istelf  in  an  innnite 
variety  of  forms,  pours  itself  through  a  hundred 
divergent  channels  and  links  itself  so  closely  with 
the  individuality  of  the  writer  as  to  merge  imper- 
ceptibly into  his  character  and  style.  But  as  we 
can  not  secure  wholesome  bread  without  yeast,  so 
we  shall  fail  of  a  classic  without  fancy. 

A  fixed  classic  form  is  not  always  necessary. 
We  need  many  of  the  classics  that  were  written  in 
other  languages.  Fortunately  some  of  the  works 
of  the  old  poets  are  capable  of  taking  on  a  new 
dress.  The  story  of  Ulysses  has  been  told  in  verse 


Tti'rtfJing.  If) 

and  prose,  in  translation,  paraphrase,  and  simple 
narrative  form  for  children.  Much,  indeed, of  the 
old  beauty  and  original  strength  of  the  poem  is 
lost  in  all  these  renderings;  but  the  central  truths 
which  give  the  poetic  work  its  persistent  value 
are  still  retained.  Such  a  poem  is  like  a  person; 
the  underlying  thought,  though  dressed  up  by 
different  persons  with  varying  taste  and  skill,  is 
yet  the  same;  the  same  heart  beats  beneath  the 
kingly  robes  and  the  peasant's  frock.  Robinson 
Crusoe  likewise  has  had  many  forms,  but  remains 
the  same  old  story  in  spite  of  variations.  The 
Bible  has  been  translated  into  all  modern  tongues, 
but  it  is  a  classic  in  each.  The  Germans  claim 
they  have  as  good  a  Shakespeare  as  we. 

Some  classic  products,  like  the  Paradise  Lost, 
Thanatopsis,  and  Hamlet,  show  such  a  perfect  fit- 
ness of  word  to  thought  that  every  effort  to  change 
or  modify  is  profanation.  The  classic  form  and 
the  classic  thought  go  together.  As  far  as  possi- 
ble, therefore,  it  is  desirable  to  leave  these  clas- 
sics in  their  native  strength  and  not  to  mar  the 
work  of  masters.  The  poet  has  moulded  his 
thought  and  feeling  into  these  forms  and  trans- 
fused them  with  his  own  imagery  and  individual- 
ity. The  power  of  the  writer  is  in  his  peculiar 
mingling  of  the  classic  elements.  Our  English 
and  American  classics,  therefore,  should  be  read 
in  their  full  original  form  as  far  as  possible. 

But  many  of  the  best  masterpieces  were  orig- 


10  Special  Method, 

inally  written  in  other  languages,  and  to  be  of 
use  to  us  the  ancient  form  of  thought  must  be  bro- 
ken. The  spirit  of  the  old  masters  must  be  poured 
into  new  moulds.  In  educating  our  children  we 
need  the  stories  of  Bellerophon, Perseus, Hercules, 
Rustum,  Tell,  Siegfried,  Virginius,  Roland,  King 
Arthur.  Happily  some  of  the  best  modern  writ- 
ers have  come  to  our  help.  Walter  Scott,  Macau- 
lay,  Dickens,  Kingsley,  Hawthorne,  Irving,  and 
Arnold,  have  gathered  up  the  old  wine  and  poured 
it  into  new  bottles.  They  have  told  the  old  sto- 
ries in  simple  Anglo-Saxon  for  the  boys  and  girls 
of  our  homes  and  schools.  Nor  are  these  render- 
ings of  the  old  classics  lacking  in  that  element  of 
fancy  and  vigor  of  expression  which  distinguish 
classic  writers.  They  have  entered  freely  and 
fondly  into  the  old  spirit,  and  have  allowed  it  to 
pour  itself  copiously  through  these  modern  chan- 
nels. It  takes  a  poet  in  fact  to  modernize  an  an- 
cient classic.  There  are,  indeed,  many  render- 
ings of  the  old  stories  which  are  not  classic, 
which,  however,  we  sometimes  use  for  lack  of 
anything  better. 

We  conclude,  therefore,  that  a  classic  master- 
piece must  embody  a  lasting  truth,  reveal  the 
permeating  glow  of  an  artist's  fancy,  and  find  ex- 
pression in  some  form  of  beauty  and  strength. 
Having  made  plain  what  we  mean  by  a  classic 
and,  in  our  lists,  having  indicated  what  classics 
should  be  chosen,  we  will  next  consider  why  such 


Raid ha/.  17 

masterpieces  should  be  read  as  complete  wholes, 
not  by  fragments  or  extracts,  but  whole  works  of 
literary  art. 

1.  A  stronger  interest  is  developed  by  the 
study,  for  several  weeks,  of  a  longer  complete  mas- 
terpiece. The  interest  grows  as  we  move  into  such 
a  story  or  poem  as  Sohrab  and  Rustum.  A  longer 
and  closer  acquaintance  with  the  characters  rep- 
resented produces  a  stronger  personal  sympathy, 
as  in  the  case  of  Cordelia  in  King  Lear,  or  of  Silas 
Marner.  The  time  usually  spent  in  school  upon 
some  classic  fragment  or  selection  is  barely  suffi- 
cient to  start  up  an  interest.  It  does  not  bring  us 
past  the  threshold  of  a  work  of  art.  We  drop  it 
just  at  the  point  where  the  momentum  of  interest 
begins  to  show  itself.  Think  of  the  full  story  of 
Aladdin  or  Crusoe  or  Ulysses.  Take  an  extract 
from  Lady  of  the  Lake,  Rip  Van  Winkle,  Evan- 
geline :  The  usual  three  or  four  pages  given  in 
the  reader,  even  if  taken  from  the  first  part, 
would  scarcely  suffice  to  bring  the  children  into 
the  movement  of  the  story;  but  oftentimes  the 
fragment  is  extracted  from  the  body  of  the  play 
without  preliminary  or  sequence.  In  reading  a 
novel,  story,  or  poem,  we  do  not  begin*  to  feel  the 
author's  power  till  two  or  thiee  chapters  are 
passed.  The  interest  begins  ...  deepen,  the  plot 
thickens,  and  a  desire  springs  up  to  fo^ow  out 
the  fortune  of  the  characters.  We  become  inter- 
ested in  the  persons,  and  our  thoughts  are  busy 


is  Special  Method. 

with  them  in  the  midst  of  other  employments  or 
in  leisure  moments.  The  personality  of  the  hero 
takes  hold  of  us  as  that  of  an  intimate  friend. 
Such  an  interest,  gradually  awakened  and  deep- 
ened as  we  move  into  the  comprehension  of  a 
work  of  art,  is  the  open  sesame  to  all  the  riches 
of  an  author's  storehouse  of  thought. 

2.  A  much  deeper  insight  into  the  author's 
purpose  and  meaning  is  secured.  A  great  author 
approaches  his  deeper  thought  step  by  step.  He 
has  many  side-lights,  variety  of  episode  and  pre- 
liminary. He  provides  for  the  proper  scenery 
and  setting  for  his  thought.  He  does  not  bring 
us  at  once,  point  blank,  upon  his  hero  or  upon  the 
hero's  fate.  There  is  great  variety  of  inference 
and  suggestion  in  the  preparation  and  grouping  of 
the  artist's  work.  As  in  climbing  some  mountain 
peak,  we  wind  through  a  canon,  along  rugged  hill- 
sides and  spurs,  only  now  and  then  catching  a 
glimpse  of  the  towering  object  of  our  climb, reach- 
ing, after  many  a  devious  and  toilsome  march,  the 
rugged  backbone  of  the  giant;  so  the  poet  carries 
us  along  many  a  winding  road,  through  by-wrays 
and  thickets,  over  hill  and  plain,  before  he  brings 
us  into  full  view  of  the  main  object  of  search. 
But  after  a  while  we  do  stand  face  to  face  with  a 
real  character  and  are  conscious  of  the  frame- 
work upon  which  it  is  built.  Saul  has  run  his 
course  and  is  about  to  reap  the  reward  of  his  do- 
ings; to  lie  down  in  the  bed  which  he  has  pre- 


19 

pared.  We  see  the  author's  deeper  plan  and  real- 
ize that  his  characters  act  along  the  line  of  the 
silent  but  invincible  laws  of  social  life  and  con- 
duct. These  deep  significant  truths  of  human  ex- 
perience do  not  lie  upon  the  surface.  If  we  are 
really  to  get  a  deep  insight  into  human  character, 
as  portrayed  by  the  masters,  we  must  not  be  in 
haste.  We  should  be  willing  to  follow  our  guide 
patiently  and  wait  for  results. 

3.  The  moral  effect  of  a  complete  masterpiece 
is  deeper  and  more  permanent.  Not  only  do  we 
see  a  person  acting  in  more  situations,  revealing 
thus  his  motives  and  hidden  springs  of  action,  but 
the  thread  of  his  thought  and  life  is  unraveled  in 
a  steady  sequence.  Later  acts  are  seen  as  the  re- 
sult of  former  tendencies.  The  silent  reign  of 
moral  law  in  human  actions  is  discovered.  Slowly 
but  surely  conduct  works  out  its  own  reward  along 
the  line  of  these  deeper  principles  of  action.  Even 
in  the  books  read  in  the  early  grades  these  pro- 
found lessons  of  life  come  out  clear  and  strong. 
Robinson  Crusoe,  Theseus,  Siegfried,  Hiawatha, 
Beauty  and  the  Beast,  Jason,  King  Arthur,  and 
Ulysses  are  not  holiday  guests.  They  are  face  to 
face  with  the  serious  problems  of  life.  Each  per- 
son is  seen  in  the  present  make-up  and  tendency 
of  his  character.  When  the  eventual  wind-up 
comes,  be  it  a  collapse  or  an  ascension,  we  see 
how  surely  and  fatally  such  results  spring  from 
such  motives  and  tendencies.  Washington  is  found 


20  Special  Method. 

to  be  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen ;  Arnold 
ia  execrated;  King  Lear  moves  on  blindly  to  the 
reward  which  his  own  folly  has  prearranged;  Mac- 
beth entangles  himself  in  a  network  of  fatal  er- 
rors; Adam  Bede  emerges  from  the  bitter  ordeal 
of  disappointment  with  his  manly  qualities  sub- 
dued but  stronger.  Give  the  novelist  or  poet  time 
and  opportunity,  and  he  is  the  true  interpreter  of 
conduct  and  destiny.  He  reveals  in  real  and  yet 
ideal  characters  the  working  out  in  life  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  moral  action. 

4.  A  complete  masterpiece,  studied  as  a  whole, 
reveals  the  author's  power.  It  gives  some  ade- 
quate perception  of  his  style  and  compass.  A 
play,  a  poem,  a  novel,  a  biography,  is  a  unit.  No 
single  part  can  give  a  satisfactory  idea  of  the 
whole.  A  single  scene  from  Crusoe  or  from  the 
Merchant  of  Venice  does  not  give  us  the  author's 
meaning.  An  extract  from  one  of  Burke's  speeches 
supplies  no  adequate  notion  of  his  statesmanlike 
grasp  of  thought.  To  get  some  impression  of 
what  Daniel  Webster  was  we  must  read  a  whole 
speech.  A  literary  product  is  like  a  masterpiece 
of  architecture.  The  whole  must  stand  out  in  the 
due  proportion  of  its  parts  to  reveal  the  master's 
thought. 

"  Walk  about  Zion,  and  go  round  about  her 

Tell  the  towers  thereof, 

Mark  ye  well  her  bulwarks,  consider  her  palaces; 
That  ye  may  tell  it  to  the  generations  following." 


Reading.  21 

To  have  read  through  with  care  and  thought- 
ful appreciation  a  single  literary  masterpiece  and 
to  have  felt  the  full  measure  of  a  master's  power, 
is  a  rare  and  lasting  stroke  of  culture.  As  chil- 
dren move  up  through  the  grades  they  may  re- 
ceive the  strong  and  abiding  impress  of  the  mas- 
ters of  style.  Let  it  come  to  them  in  its  undi- 
minished  strength.  To  feel  the  powerful  tonic 
effect  of  the  best  stories  and  poems  suited  to  their 
age  will  give  them  such  an  appreciation  of  what 
is  genuine  and  good  in  literature  that  frivolous 
and  trashy  reading  is  measured  at  its  true  value. 

The  fragments  and  extracts  with  which  our 
higher  readers  are  filled  are  not  without  power 
and  influence  upon  culture.  They  have  given 
many  children  their  first  taste  of  the  beauty  and 
strength  of  literature.  But  it  is  a  great  mistake 
to  tear  these  gems  of  thought  from  their  setting 
in  literature  and  life  and  to  jam  them  into  the 
close  and  crowded  quarters  of  a  text-book.  Why 
satisfy  ourselves  with  crumbs  and  fragments  when 
a  full  rich  feast  may  be  had  for  the  asking? 

5.  A  classic  work  is  often  a  picture  of  an  age, 
a  panoramic  survey  of  an  historical  epoch.  Scott's 
Marmion  is  such  a  graphic  and  dramatic  portrayal 
of  feudalism  in  Scotland.  The  castle  with  its 
lord,  attendants,  and  household,  the  steep  frown- 
ing walls  and  turrets,  the  moat,  drawbridge,  and 
dungeon,  the  chapel,  halls  and  feasting,  the  knight 
clad  in  armor,  on  horseback  with  squire  and 


22  Special  Method. 

troop,— these  are  the  details  of  the  first  picture. 
The  cloister  and  nuns  with  their  sequestered  hab- 
its and  dress,  their  devotion  and  masses,  supply 
the  other  characteristic  picture  of  that  age,  with 
Rome  in  the  background.  The  court  scene  and 
ball  in  king  James'  palace,  before  the  day  of  Flod- 
den,  the  view  of  Scotland's  army  from  the  moun- 
tain side,  with  the  motley  hordes  from  Highland 
and  Lowland  and  neighboring  isles,  and  lastly  the 
battle  of  Flodden  itself  where  wisdom  is  weighed 
and  valor  put  to  the  final  test — all  these  are  but 
the  parts  of  a  well-adjusted  picture  of  life  in 
feudal  times  on  the  Scottish  border.  There  is  in- 
cidental to  the  narrative  much  vivid  description 
of  Scotch  scenery  and  geography,  of  mountain  or 
valley,  of  frowning  castle  or  rocky  coast,  much 
of  Scotch  tradition,  custom,  superstition  and  clan- 
nishness.  The  scenes  in  cloister  and  dungeon  and 
on  the  battle-field  are  more  intensely  real  than 
historical  narratives  can  be.,  "While  not  strict  his- 
tory, this  is  truer  than  history  because  it  brings 
us  closer  to  the  spirit  of  that  time.  Marmion  and 
Douglas  stand  out  more  clear  and  life-like  than 
the  men  of  history. 

Although  feudalism  underwent  constant  changes 
and  modifications  in  every  country  of  Europe,  it 
is  still  true  tliat  Marmion  is  a  type  of  feudal  con- 
ditions not  only  in  Scotland  but  in  other  parts  of 
Europe,  and  a  full  perception  of  Scott's  poem 
will  make  one  at  home  in  any  part  of  European 


Reading.  23 

hititory  during  feudal  times.  As  a  historical  pic- 
ture of  life  it  is  a  key  to  the  spirit  and  animating 
ideas  that  swayed  the  western  nations  during 
several  centuries.  It  is  fiction,  not  history,  in 
the  usual  sense,  and  yet  it  gives  a  more  real  and 
vivid  consciousness  of  the  forces  at  work  in  that 
age  than  history  proper. 

While  the  plot  of  the  story  covers  a  narrow 
field,  only  a  few  days  of  time  and  a  small  area  of 
country,  its  roots  go  deep  into  the  whole  social, 
religious,  and  political  fabric  of  that  time.  It 
touches  real  history  at  a  critical  point  in  the  rela- 
tions between  England  and  Scotland.  It  is  stirred 
also  by  the  spirit  of  the  Scotch  bard  and  of  min- 
strelsy. It  shows  what  a  hold  Rome  had  in  those 
days  even  in  the  highlands  of  Scotland.  It  is 
full  of  Scotch  scenery  and  geography.  It  rings 
with  the  clarion  of  war  and  of  battle.  It  reveals 
the  contempt  in  which  letters  were  held  even  by 
the  most  powerful  nobles.  Oxen  are  described  as 
drawing  cannon  upon  the  field  of  Plodden,  and  in 
time  these  guns  broke  down  the  walls  of  feudal- 
ism. As  a  historical  picture  Marmion  is  many- 
sided  and  the  roots  of  the  story  reach  out  through 
the  whole  fabric  of  society,  showing  how  all  the 
parts  cohere.  Such  a  piece  of  historical  litera- 
ture may  serve  as 'a  center  around  which  to  gather 
much  and  varied  information  through  other  school 
and  home  readings.  Children  may  find  time  to 
read  Ivanhoe,the  Crusades,  Roland.  Don  Quixote, 


24  Special  Method. 

The  Golden  Leg-end,  Macbeth,  Gootz  von  Berlicn- 
ingen,  etc.  They  will  have  a  nucleus  upon  which 
to  gather  many  related  facts  and  ideas.  It  should 
also  be  brought  into  proper  connection  with  the 
regular  lessons  in  history  and  geography.  His- 
tory reveals  itself  to  the  poet  in  these  wonder- 
fully vivid  and  life-like  types.  In  many  of  these 
historical  poems,  as  William  Tell,  Evangeline, 
Crusoe,  The  Nibelung  Song,  Miles  Standish,  The 
Odyssey,  Sohrab  and  Rustum,  some  hero  stands 
in  the  center  of  the  narrative  and  can  be  under- 
stood as  a  representative  figure  of  his  times  only 
as  the  whole  series  of  events  in  his  life  is  un- 
rolled. 

We  conclude  that  the  use  of  complete  classic 
works  in  the  grades  of  the  common  school  is  to  be 
recommended  because  they  awaken  a  stronger 
and  keener  interest  and  give  a  deeper  insight  into 
the  author's  storehouse  of  thought.  The  moral 
effect  of  such  character-delineation  is  powerful 
because  it  is  so  graphic  and  continuous  in  its  se- 
quence, and  because  the  author  has  such  an  open 
field  in  which  to  reveal  the  full  measure  and  com- 
pass of  his  power  as  a  writer.  Lastly,  many  of 
the  best  classics  for  children  are  graphic  histo- 
rical pictures  of  great  typical  significance  in  the 
history  of  the  world. 

Besides  the  longer  classic  masterpieces  that 
we  have  had  chiefly  in  mind,  there  is  a  multitude 
of  shorter  classics  which  should  be  liberally  read 


25 

and  studied  in  these  grades.  They  should  be 
grouped  around  the  central  predominating  ideas 
in  our  series  of  literary  materials  for  the  grades. 
Many  of  the  finest  classic  poems  are  short.  But 
they  should  not  stand  alone.  They  express,  in 
an  intense  form,  ideas  which  are  found  elsewhere 
in  our  history  and  literature,  and  with  which  they 
should  be  brought  into  the  closest  relation. 


28  Special  Method. 


CHAPTER  II. 
The  Literature  of  the  First  Four  Grades. 

1.  There  is  quite  a  variety  of  classic  literature 
that  is  directly  serviceable  in  the  first  four  years 
of  school.  Nursery  melodies,  folk-lore  stories  and 
fairy  tales,  fables,  Robinson  Crusoe,  and  the  clas- 
sic myths  furnish  the  waxing,  changing-  minds 
of  children  with  varied  and  stirring  matter  for 
thought. 

When  children  begin  to  read  in  the  first  school 
year,  they  need  the  simplest  material,  and  yet 
something  that  stirs  the  interest  and  fancy.  The 
nursery  rhymes,  such  as  appear  in  Verse  and  Prose 
for  beginners,  and  in  Heart  of  Oak  No.  1,  are 
good  because  they  are  already  partly  known  to 
the  children  and  have  excited  their  mirth  and 
curiosity.  To  meet  and  recognize  these  familiar 
stories  in  print  is  to  carry  some  of  the  joy  of  the 
nursery  into  the  school-room.  Some  of  these 
things  are  fantastic  and  ridiculous  and  even  ab- 
surd to  older  people*,  but  little  children  are  by 
nature  better  judges  than  their  sedate  elders. 
Whatever  in  the  shape  of  literature  is  fit  for  the 
home  is  fit  for  the  school.  The  very  fact  that 
many  of  these  rhymes  have  been  familiar  in  the 


27 

best  homes  for  some  generations  is  the  best  proof 
that  they  are  the  right  material  for  the  first  grade. 
They  are  often  very  ridiculous  and  fanciful,  and 
for  that  reason  are  exactly  fit  to  the  children's 
need;  for  children  are  most  of  all  appreciative  of 
the  fanciful  and  grotesque.  Some  of  the  best  of 
these  quibbling  verses  come  from  Shakespeare 
and  Ruskin  and  Kingsley.  The  farcical  side  of 
human  life  shows  itself  early  and  late  and  is  a 
true  sign  of  health  and  soundness.  To  use  these 
rhymes  in  the  first  grade  is  to  conduce  to  the  nat- 
ural joyousness  and  delight  of  children.  Then  the 
rhymes  and  repetitions  have  a  charm  as  language. 

It  is  the  first  rude  form  of  the  aesthetic  in  liter- 
ature, the  harmony  of  sound  and  sense,  the  music 
of  words.  It  is  also  permanent,  for  these  simple 
literary  flowers  do  not  lose  their  aroma.  We 
never  outgrow  them,  as  we  do  trivial  or  trashy 
books. 

2.  The  helpful  or  harmful  effect  of  the  litera- 
ture of  the  fancy  in  early  years  is  a  subject  of 
much  dispute.  The  opening-up  of  this  dispute  is 
one  of  the  best  fruits  of  recent  pedagogical  study. 
Shall  we  clip  the  wings  of  fancy  in  children,  or 
shall  we  encourage  them  to  unfold  and  carry  the 
children  gently  over  many  a  blooming  meadow? 
The  most  characteristic  mark  in  all  the  literature 
we  mentioned  for  the  first  four  grades  is  its  fanci- 
ful spirit.  There  is  scarely  any  literature  for  the 
earlier  grades  in  which  the  fancy  is  not  a  predom- 


28  Special  Method. 

inating  element.  We  noticed  above  that  the  fancy 
is  a  pervading-  element  in  all  permanent  literary 
products.  But  the  literature  of-  children,  in  its 
whole  framework  and  structure,  is  built  up  by  the 
imagination  out  of  the  real  elements  of  experience. 

We  acknowledge  the  power  and  domain  of  fancy 
in  the  works  of  Hawthorne,  Bunyan,  Shakespeare, 
Dante,  Goethe.  Such  novelists  as  Scott,  Irving, 
Eliot,  Dickens,  and  Thackeray,  lead  us  to  the  real 
world  only  through  the  portals  of  fancy.  We  al- 
low, then,  the  supreme  value  of  the  fancy  in  all 
the  highest  forms  of  literature,  and  yet  we  ques- 
tion the  classic  stories  of  fancy  for  children. 
There  is  a  strong  disposition  among  the  serious- 
minded  to  draw  the  lines  of  reality  close  and  stiff 
around  the  children,  to  shut  them  up  to  nature - 
study,  to  real  life  and  history,  to  reduce  Pegasus 
to  a  plow-horse.  Many  can  not  reconcile  them- 
selves to  the  fairy  tale  because  it  is  such  a  way- 
ward child,  so  blissful  in  its  ignorance  of  realities. 

But  this  period  of  childhood  is  the  golden  age 
of  the  fancy,  the  one  time  when  the  fancy  holds 
the  sole  right  of  eminent  domain.  Children  at 
this  time  are  by  spontaneity  fanciful.  They  en- 
dow every  plaything  with  life,  they  personify  bird 
and  flower  and  tree;  they  draw  crude  pictures  and 
make  rude  machines  which,  through  the  fancy, 
stand  for  the  complete  realities.  Without  sug- 
gestion from  mother  or  teacher  .they  live,  move, 
and  construct  in  a  world  of  fancy. 


Heading.  29 

There  are  indeed  two  worlds  that  seem  to 
have  nearly  equal  hold  upon  a  child's  thoughts, 
the  wrorld  of  realities,  and  the  world  of  idealities. 
He  never  tires  of  seeing,  examining',  handling, 
modifying,  using  things.  But  a  close  observation 
of  his  activities  will  reveal  that  ideas  which  his 
fancy  has  created  are  the  objective  points  toward 
which  he  works.  He  has  seen  a  river  and  bridge, 
and  at  home  he  makes  a  river,  valley,  and  bridge, 
out  of  sand  and  sticks,  not  identical  with  the  one 
seen,  but  one  his  fancy  has  created.  He  has  heard 
the  story  of  Crusoe's  raft  or  cave,  and  he  builds  a 
raft  or  digs  a  cave,  and  arranges  them  according 
to  his  own  notions  of  plan  and  construction.  A 
healthy  child  is  astonishingly  active  in  his  exper- 
imentation with  material  objects  and  in  making 
them  conform  to  or  realize  the  ideal  aims  that  his 
fancy  constantly  creates  and  sets  up  as  guides. 
The  classic  literature  which  suits  these  early 
years  is  thoroughly  saturated  with  fancy.  It 
gives  healthy  development  to  a  healthy  impulse. 
The  mind  of  a  child  leaps  toward  results,  it  leaps 
past  physical  barriers  and  hindrances,  and  comes 
straight  at  the  desired  end.  It  is  the  early  su- 
premacy of  mind  over  matter.  Later  he  learns 
the  limitations,  but  at  this  early  stage  rejoices  in 
this  unchecked  exercise  of  his  power.  But  even 
a  child  is  not  led  astray  by  his  fancy.  He  is  con- 
scious of  the  freaks  which  his  thought  is  playing, 
of  the  underlying  realities  which  it  skips  over  so 


30  Special  Method. 

smoothly  and  gracefully.  Much  of  the  enjoyment, 
indeed,  in  fairy  lore,  is  perhaps  due  to  this  hide- 
and-seek  game  with  nature's  truths.  To  accuse 
the  fairy  tale  of  dishonesty  is  to  accuse  the 
strongest  trait  of  ingenuous  childhood  of  duplic- 
ity, for  the  story  is  the  idealized  form  of  the 
child's  thought.  Why  should  grown  people  allow 
themselves  the  pleasures  of  imagination  in  the 
noble  works  of  the  best  poets,  and  exclude  child- 
ren from  such  a  pleasure  when  their  whole 
thought  and,  activity  are  enshrined  in  a  halo  of 
fanciful  illusion? 

But  it  is  not  simply  that  we  desire  to  secure 
the  children  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  rich  feast  of 
thought  natural  to  their  appetites.  We  have  an 
eye  also  to  the  coming  years,  when  the  fancy, 
though  subdued  and  regulated,  still  possesses 
strong  powers  of  flight.  These  are  the  only  wings 
that  can  carry  a  child,  in  later  school  years,  to 
many  a  rugged  hill-top  or  deep  into  many  a  rocky 
glen.  The  child  whose  mind  is  hitched  to  a  vig- 
orous fancy  will  scale  the  walls  of  truth  at  every 
point,  while  the  prosaic  mind,  encumbered  with 
dull  realities,  will  stand  bedumbed  before  impos- 
sible barriers.  In  intermediate  and  grammar 
grades  an  active  and  rich  fancy  is  able  to  enliven 
the  dullness  of  studies  as  an  irrigating  stream, 
poured  upon  the  parched  soil  of  our  western  plains, 
brings  the  shimmer  of  green  fields  and  the  variety 
of  groves  and  orchards. 


Reading,  :\  \ 

In  the  middle  and  upper  grades  of  the  common 
school  an  active,  well-developed  fancy  is  one  of 
the  chief  means  of  invigorating-  and  intensifying 
the  thought  of  children.  It  is  one  of  the  deep, 
living  sources  from  which  original  energy  is  im- 
parted to  study.  To  neglect,  therefore,  the 
healthful  exercise  of  the  fancy  in  primary  grades, 
where  it  breaks  forth  spontaneously,  is  to  dry  up 
those  springs  from  which  refreshment  comes  in 
later  years.  It  is  an  admitted  fact  that  much  of 
the  journey  through  the  grades  is  over  dry  and 
parched  sands.  An  occasional  oasis  may  appear 
in  sight,  but  there  is  a  good  deal  of  the  monotony 
of  desert  barrenness. 

Lessons  in  reading,  geography,  natural  sci- 
ence, and  arithmetic  are  beholden  in  a  score  of 
ways  to  a  fruitful  fancy.  The  teacher  in  the  mid- 
dle grades  who  has  an  active  fancy  and  can 
awaken  like  activities  in  children  will  make  the 
anvils  ring  as  in  a  busy  workshop,  and  every  blow 
will  count,  for  the  materials  are  made  plastic  and 
the  striking  arm  is  invigorated  by  the  fancy. 

3.  In  second  and  third  grade  readers  the  fable 
holds  an  important  place.  Its  superior  quality 
as  classic  can  be  seen  in  several  points. 

In  nearly  all  cases  it  is  a  personification  of 
plant  or  animal  life.  The  talking  trees,  flowers, 
and  birds  touch  the  child's  fancy  and  draw  him 
into  close  sympathy  with  living  things  in  nature. 
The  moral  truth  involved  in  a  fable  is  best  felt 


32  Special  Method. 

not  in  the  formulated  conclusion,  but  in  the  acts 
of  the  persons  represented.  It  is  better  for  a 
child  to  see  the  virtues  and  faults  objectified  in 
clear  and  graphic  forms  which  do  not  bear  at  first 
upon  his  own  conduct.  Let  a  child's  judgment  be 
first  clear  and  positive  as  applied  to  the  conduct 
of  others.  There  will  be  abundant  later  oppor- 
tunity to  throw  the  clear  light  of  this  judgment 
back  upon  his  own  acts.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
find  a  more  potent  form  of  moral  culture  than 
these  convincing  judgments  with  their  keen  edge 
incisively  applied  by  the  children  to  their  own 
actions.  The  teacher  in  the  primary  school  has 
many  occasions  to  compare  the  life  of  bird  or  tree, 
as  depicted  in  fable,  with  school-room  and  play- 
ground episodes. 

As  reading  exercises  the  fables  are  adapted  to 
a  very  early  use  in  first  or  second  grade.  There 
is  no  invariable  form  in  which  they  are  worded. 
The  brief  sententious  fable  may  be  expanded  and 
simplified  so  as  to  be  adapted  to  very  early  read- 
ing. The  dialogue,  which  so  often  appears,  is  a 
happy  medium  through  which  children  learn  to 
represent  different  objects.  This  additional  ex- 
ercise of  the  fancy  brings  increased  interest  to 
the  fable  and  lends  greater  vim  and  naturalness 
to  the  reading. 

While  the  springs,  from  which  natural  interest 
and  expressive  reading  emerge,  are  thus  kept 
freely  flowing,  the  retrospect  upon  these  uplands 


of  school  life  is  always  pleasing.  The  truths  so 
simple  and  plain  to  a  child,  prove  deep  and  last- 
ing-. They  find  their  application  in  a  wide  field 
of  later  human  experiences. 

4.  Robinson  Crusoe,  as  a  basis  for  oral  work  in 
second  grade  and  as  a  reading  book  in  third  grade, 
is  a  good  example  of  concentration  of  studies  in 
these  two  grades.  The  pedagogical  value  and  fit* 
ness  of  this  story  for  second-grade  children  (oral 
narrative)  was  discussed  in  the  Special  Method  in 
History  and  Literature,  Chapter  III. 

In  second  grade,  the  oral  presentation  and  re- 
production of  the  continuous  story  of  Crusoe  was 
found  to  gather  into  a  focus  a  variety  of  studies. 
The  range  of  employments  that  Crusoe  illustrates 
gives  the  children  their  first  clear  view  into  the 
varied  industries  and  forms  of  manual  labor  that 
surround  each  child  in  his  home-village  or  neigh- 
borhood. The  language  lessons  are  as  varied  and 
interesting  as  can  be  devised.  The  study  of 
plants,  domestic  animals,  seasons,  and  tools,  sug- 
gested by  Crusoe  and  well  adapted  for  science 
lessons,  is  abundant  for  the  uses  of  second  grade. 
The  drawing  lessons  hinted  at  by  the  story  of 
Crusoe  and  by  the  natural  science  topics  related 
to  it  are  the  best  means  of  coming  closer  to  the 
objects  and  of  bringing  into  action  the  executive 
and  creative  powers  of  a  child. 

In  the  third  grade,  the  story  of  Crusoe  can  be 
read  and  enjoyed  in  the  printed  form.  It  is  hardly 

Q 


possible,  with  live  teaching-,  that  the  narrative 
will  lose  interest  by  repetition.  The  interest  and 
meaning  of  the  life  of  the  hero  acquire  a  deeper 
significance.  If  the  realism  of  the  story  is  pro- 
vided for  by  continual  study  of  the  representative 
objects  and  occupations  about  the  home,  it  can 
scarcely  grow  wearisome.  In  the  third  grade  our 
plan  of  studies  includes,  as  introductory  geogra- 
phy, the  study  of  the  home  by  means  of  excur- 
sions. This  is  a  direct  continuation  of  the  Crusoe 
employments  begun  in. second  grade.  It  is  alto- 
gether probable  that  the  variety  of  information 
and  interesting  incident  brought  out  in  the  oral 
treatment  of  the  story  in  second  grade  will  pave 
the  way  for  appreciative  and  expressive  reading 
of  the  same  incidents  in  third  grade. 

Instead  of  overdoing  the  Crusoe  story, as  many 
would  be  inclined  to  think,  by  making  it  deeply 
realistic  and  tangible  and  relating  it  in  so  many 
ways  to  other  studies  and  to  our  own  surround- 
ings and  concerns,  we  are  strengthening-  the  effect. 
To  make  a  subject  instructive  and  interesting 
there  is  need,  not  so  much  of  something  new  and 
novel  at  every  step,  as  some  deep  insight  into  re- 
alities, abundance  of  detail  and  experimentation 
with  sensible  objects,  and  a  constant  relationship 
of  our  previous  to  our  incoming  stores  of  knowl- 
edge. The  Crusoe  story  has  been  lauded  by 
writers  on  education  as  a  rich  treasure-house  of 
ideas  and  of  incentive  for  children.  But  we  shall 


Beadnnj.  35 

not  exploit  the  resources  of  this  or  of  any  other 
rich  reservoir  of  culture  ideas  by*  a  hasty  or  super- 
ficial reading  of  the  story.  The  children  may 
drink  deep  and  long  at  such  fountains  if  they  are 
really  opened  up  in  their  fulness.  The  whole 
complex  of  ideas  involved  in  the  story  must  find 
a  deep  and  fixed  setting"  in  the  midst  of  the  child's 
circle  of  thought  and  experience.  The  entangle- 
ment of  ideas  must  be  close,  many-sided,  and  per- 
manent if  the  desired  effect  on  character,  as  deter- 
mined by  the  range  and  connection  of  ideas,  is  to 
be  secured. 

5.  As  the  fairy  or  folk-lore  tales  are  expressive 
of  the  childhood  of  the  race  and  lead  us  back  into 
the  thoughts  and  life  of  our  early  European  an- 
cestors, so  the  classic  myths  lead  us  into  the  very 
presence  of  the  representative  men  and  ideas  of 
the  vigorous  and  youthful  nations  of  Europe.  To 
read  these  old  heroic  epics  is  to  taste  of  the  very 
spirit  and  conditions  of  our  ancestors  in  this 
period  of  youthful  exuberance.  He  who  touches 
these  living  stones  has  his  hands  upon  the  primi- 
tive strength  of  European  culture.  And  it  is  a 
strength  that  is  by  no  means  exhausted.  It  has 
permeated  and  vivified  much  of  the  classic  pro- 
ducts which  later  periods  of  culture  have  brought 
to  light.  The  heroic  myths  of  the  Greeks,  Teu- 
tons, and  Norsemen  are  the  bearers  of  poetry, 
music,  art,  religion,  and  patriotism.  They  con- 
tained the  germs  of  later  national  life  and  cul- 


M'thod. 

ture.  For  a  child,  therefore,  to  drink  of  these 
fountains,  is  to  acquire  a  vantage  for  the  appre- 
ciation of  later  ideas  and  institutions.  We  are 
not  disposed  to  emphasize  this  merit  of  the  old 
myths.  That  which  is  of  most  value  to  children 
in  these  old  classic  myths  is  more  immediate  and 
direct.  Heroic  characters  are  attractive  expo- 
nents of  heroic  qualities.  The  ideals  of  early  na- 
tions are  personified  in  energetic,  life-like  repre- 
sentatives, and  appeal  to  children  from  the  side 
of  their  strongest  natural  impulses. 

The  heroic  myths  are  of  unquestioned  classic 
merit.  They  contain  much  of  the  finest  poetry 
and  imagery  of  the  ages.  The  father  of  poetry  is 
the  reputed  author  of  the  greatest  of  all  thf 
myths,  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey. 

The  Nibelungen  Song  has  been  held  by  the  mas- 
ters of  literature  as  almost  of  equal  merit  with  the 
Greek  myths,  and  the  Norse  myths  are  astonish- 
ingly rich  in  fanciful  enterprise.  All  these  stories 
require  adaptation  to  school-room  use.  They  must 
be  chiseled  and  wrought  into  forms  better  adapted 
to  our  needs.  But  -these  are  the  quarries  from 
which  the  materials  of  youthful  culture  are  to  be 
hewn  and  fashioned.  The  quality  of  the  material 
is  of  the  finest,  and  it  remains  for  poets  and  school- 
masters to  pour  these  old  songs  into  the  new 
mould  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  speech.  Many  at- 
tempts in  this  direction  have  been  already  made, 
some  by  authors  of  high  repute  like  Hawthorne 


37 

and  Kingsley,  and  some  by  less  genial  writers. 
But  the  labor  is  a  noble  one,  and  will  sooner  or 
later  bring  the  heroic  boys  of  the  antique  world 
close  to  the  thought  and  feeling  of  our  boys  and 
girls  in  these  early  years. 


38  Special  Method. 


CHAPTER  III 

Literary  and  Historical  Materials  in  the  Four  Grades 
from  Fifth  to  Eighth  Inclusive. 

In  the  upper  half  (last  four  grades)  of  the  com- 
mon school,  all  will  agree  to  the  extensive  use  of 
good  literature.  It  is  only  a  question  of  choice 
and  arrangement.  A  good  part  of  the  materials 
suggested  for  fifth  and  sixth  grades  is  both  his- 
torical and  classical.  The  age  of  myths  is  not  yet 
fully  past,  and  Hiawatha  and  the  King  of  the 
Golden  River  continue  to  echo  the  mythical  ideas 
of  the  third  and  fourth  grades.  The  Black  Beauty 
stands  apart  from  the  historical  line,  but  it  takes 
a  deep,  strong  hold  upon  children,  and  brings  out 
some  hearty,  wholesome  lessons  of  gentleness  and 
kindness  in  dealing  with  horses.  Its  teachings 
are  no  less  valuable  than  those  of  chivalry  and 
heroism,  though  in  strange  contrast  to  them. 

The  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,Higginson's  Ameri- 
can Explorers,  Tales  from  English  History,  He- 
roic Ballads,  Magna  Charta  Stories,  Grandfather's 
Chair,  Miles  Standish,  Sketch  Book,  Tales  of  a 
Grandfather,  Stories  of  Waverly,  and  the  Autobi- 
ography of  Franklin  are  historical,  and,  to  a  large 
extent,  classic.  Some  of  them  are  indigenous  to 
America,  some  to  Scotland  and  to  other  countries 


.'59 

of  Europe.  The  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,  the  Bal- 
lads, the  MagnaCharta  stories,  and  the  Tales  from 
English  History,  belong"  to  the  heroic  series. 
Though  far  separated  in  time  and  place,  they 
breathe  the  same  «spirit  of  personal  energy,  self- 
sacrifice,  and  love  of  country.  They  reveal  manly 
resistance  to  cruelty  and  tyranny.  It  is  well  to 
begin  this  series  with  a  term's  work  upon  Macau- 
lay's  Lays  and  a  few  other  choice  stories  in  prose 
and  verse.  Thereafter  we  may  insert  other  bal- 
lads, where  needed,  in  connection  with  history, 
and  in  amplification  of  longer  stories  or  master- 
pieces like  Scott's  Tales  of  a  Grandfather,  and 
Marmion.  In  the  fifth  grade,  children  are  of  an 
age  when  these  stories  of  heroism  in  olden  days 
strike  a  responsive  chord.  They  delight  in  such 
tales,  memorize  them,  and  enter  into  the  full  en- 
ergy of  their  spirited  reproduction.  The  main 
purpose  at  first  is  to  appreciate  their  thought  as 
an  expression  of  history,  tradition,  and  national 
life.  A  complete  and  absorbing  study  of  a  single 
series  of  these  warlike  ballads,  as  of  Macaulay's, 
supplies  also  an  excellent  standard  of  compari- 
son for  other  more  or  less  similar  episodes  in  the 
history  of  Switzerland,  Greece,  England,  and 
America. 

In  the  oral  history  lessons  given  on  alternate 
days  in  fourth  grade  (see  Special  Method  in  His- 
tory and  Literature,  p.  53,)  we  have  made  a  spir- 
ited entrance  to  American  history  through  the 


40  Special  Method. 

Pioneer  Stories  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  These 
should  precede  and  pave  the  way  for  classic  read- 
ings in  American  history.  In  the  fifth  grade,  the 
stories  of  Columbus  and  of  the  chief  navigators, 
also  the  narratives  of  the  Atlantic-coasfpioneers 
are  told.  The  regular  history  work  of  the  sixth 
grade  should  be  a  study  of  the  growth  of  the  lead- 
ing colonies  during  the  colonial  period  and-  the 
Prench-and-Indian  wars. 

In  the  fifth  grade  we  may  begin  to  read  some  of 
the  hero  narratives  of  our  own  pioneer  epoch  as  ren- 
dered by  the  best  writers;  for  instance,  Higginson's 
American  Explorers,  Pilgrims  and  Puritans,  Sto- 
ries of  Our  Country  and  Grandfather's  Chair. 
They  are  life-like  and  spirited,  and  introduce  us 
to  the  realism  of  our  early  history  in  its  rugged 
exposure  and  trials,  while  they  bring  out  those 
stern  but  high  ideals  of  life  which  the  Puritan  and 
the  Cavalier,  the  navigator,  the  pioneer  hunter 
and  explorer,  illustrate.  Higginson's  collection  of 
letters  and  reports  of  the  early  explorers,  with 
their  quaint  language  and  eye-witness  descrip- 
tions, is  strikingly  vivid  in  its  portraiture  of  early 
scenes  upon  our  shores.  Hawthorne,  in  Grand- 
father's Chair,  has  moulded  the  hardy  biography 
of  New  England  leaders  into  literary  form. 

Irving's  Sketch  Book  and  Longfellow's  Miles 
Standish  give  a  still  more  pronounced  and  pleas- 
ing literary  cast  to  two  of  the  characteristic  forms 
of  life  in  our  colonial  history,  the  Puritan  and  the 


Read'mij.  41 

Dutch  Patroon.  If  the  children  have  reached  this 
point  where  they  can  read  and  enjoy  the  Sketch 
Book,  it  will  be  worth  much  as  a  description  of  life 
along  the  Hudson  and  will  develop  taste  and  ap- 
preciation for  literary  excellence.  Even  the  fan- 
ciful and  ridiculous  elements  conduce  to  mental 
health  and  soundness  by  showing1  up  in  pleasing 
satire  the  weaknesses  and  foibles  of  well-meaning 
people. 

The  Autobiography  of  Franklin  has  many 
graphic  touches  from  American  life.  His  intense 
practical  personality,  his  many-sidedness,  and 
public  spirit,  make  up  a  character  that  will  long 
instruct  and  open  out  in  many  directions  the  minds 
of  the  young.  His  clear  sense  and  wisdom  in  small 
affairs  as  in  great,  and  the  pleasing  style  of  his 
narrative,  are  sufficiently  characteristic  to  have  a 
strong  personal  impression.  It  will  hardly  be 
necessary  to  take  the  whole  of  the  autobiography, 
but  the  more  attractive  parts,  leaving  the  rest  to 
the  private  reading  of  children.  Poor  Richard's 
Almanac  intensifies  the  notion  of  Franklin's  prac- 
tical and  every-day  wisdom,  and  at  the  same  time 
introduces  the  children  to  a  form  of  literature  that 
in  colonial  days,  under  Franklin's  patronage,  had 
a  wide  acceptance  and  lasting  influence  in  America. 

Snow  Bound,  Songs  of  Labor,  and  Among  the 
Hills,  while  not  historical  in  the  usual  sense,  are 
still  plainly  American  and  may  well  be  associated 
with  other  poetic  delineations  of  American  life. 


42  Special  Method. 

Snow  Bound  is  a  picture  of  New  England  life,  with 
its  pleasing-  and  deep-rooted  memories.  Its  family 
life  and  idealization  of  common  objects  and  joys 
make  it  a  classic  which  reaches  the  hearts  of  boys 
and  girls.  Among  the  Hills  is  also  a  picture  of 
home  life  in  New  England  mountains,  a  contrast 
of  the  mean  and  low  in  home  environment  to  the 
beauty  of  thrift  and  taste  and  unselfish  home  joys. 
The  Songs  of  Labor  are  descriptive  of  the  toils  and 
spirit  of  our  varied  employments  in  New  England 
and  of  that  larger  New  England  which  the  migrat- 
ing Yankees  have  established  between  the  oceans. 

Evangeline  is  another  literary  pearl  that  en- 
shrines in  sad  and  mournful  measures  a  story  of 
colonial  days  and  teaches  several  great  lessons, 
as  of  the  harshness  and  injustice  of  war,  of  fair- 
mindedness  and  sympathy  for  those  of  alien  speech 
and  country,  of  patience  and  gentleness  and  loy- 
alty to  high  ideals  in  a  character  familiar  and  sa- 
cred to  us  all. 

It  appears  in  the  foregoing  references  that 
there  is  much  variety  of  literary  portrayal  of  co- 
lonial life  and  events,  of  heroic  adventure,  graphic 
history,  poem,  charming  satire,  proverbial  wis- 
dom; of  home  life  and  manners  as  reflected  by  the 
genial  master  in  transparent  biographical  pic- 
tures—all these  are  intensely  imbued  with  the  old 
American  spirit. 

As  we  approach  the  Revolutionary  crisis  a  new 
body  of  choice  literary  products,  aglow  with  the 


Heading.  43 

fire  of  patriotism  and  independence,  is  found  stored 
up  for  the  joy  and  stimulus  of  our  growing"  young 
Americans.  Paul  Revere's  Ride,  Grandmother's 
Story  of  Bunker  Hill,  Washington's  Letters,  A  Bal- 
lad of  the  Boston  Tea  Party,  Ode  for  Washington's 
Birthday,  Lexington  (Holmes),  The  Song  of  Ma- 
rion's Men,  The  Green  Mountain  Boys,  Webster's 
Speeches  at  Bunker  Hill  and  on  Adams  and  Jeffer- 
son,Old  Ticonderoga  (Hawthorne),  Burke 's  Speech 
on  the  American  War,  Washington's  Farewell  to 
the  Army,  The  Declaration  of  Independence,  Under 
the  Old  Elm,  and  descriptions  of  some  of  the  great 
scenes  of  the  war  by  our  best  historians. 

It  is  to  be  desired  that  children  in  the  seventh 
grade  may  have  opportunity  in  regular  history 
lessons  to  study  in  detail  a  few  of  the  central 
topics  of  the  Revolutionary  epoch.  This  will  put 
them  in  touch  with  the  spirit  and  surroundings  of 
the  Americans.  Let  the  period  of  the  Revolution 
be  taken  for  the  special  study  of  the  seventh  grade. 
With  a  lesson  of  twenty  or  thirty  minutes  on  alter- 
nate days,  they  could  read  and  discuss,  during  the 
three  terms  of  this  year,  three  excellent  books, 
Scudder's  Life  of  Washington,  Fiske's  War  of 
Independence,  and  Hosmer's  Life  of  Samuel  Ad- 
ams. These  books  are  sufficiently  comprehensive, 
graphic,  and  interesting  to  serve  as  a  clear  and 
lively  introduction  to  the  history  of  this  epoch 
and  as  a  basis  for  the  reading  of  its  literature. 

In  the  reading  lessons  of  the  same  grade  we 


44  Special  Method 

may  well  afford  to  discover  and  feel  what  our 
best  patriots  and  men  of  letters  have  said  and 
felt  in  view  of  the  struggle  for  freedom.  The 
noblest  expressions  of  sentiment  upon  great  men 
and  their  achievements  are  contagious  with  the 
young.  Patriotism  can  find  no  better  soil  in  which 
to  strike  its  deepest  roots  than  the  noble  out- 
bursts of  our  orators  and  poets  and  patriotic 
statesmen.  The  cumulative  effect  of  these  varied 
but  kindred  materials  is  greater  than  when  scat- 
tered and  disconnected.  They  mutually  support 
each  other,  and  when  they  are  brought  into  close 
dependence  upon  parallel  historical  studies,  we 
may  well  say  that  the  children  are  drinking  from 
the  deep  and  pure  sources  of  true  Americanism. 

That  period  of  our  history  which  falls  later 
than  the  Revolutionary  war  opens  up  a  series  of 
great  and  perplexing  problems,  so  vast,  complex, 
and  far-reaching  that  it  is  a  serious  question  what 
to  do  with  them  below  the  high  school.  The 
pedagogy  of  the  future  must  determine  what  use 
can  be  made  of  this  perplexing  wealth  of  mate- 
rials. The  past  hundred  years  has  been  fruitful 
in  sweeping  changes  and  developments.  The 
building  and  launching  of  the  constitution,  inter- 
nal improvements,  immigration,  inventions,  the 
slavery  conflict,  growth  of  the  public  and  higher 
schools,  railroads,  civil  service,  the  religious  or- 
ders, labor  and  capital, — these  are  too  great  for 
a  child  to  grasp,  and  yet  he  must  be  led  to  a  few 


Keadiinj.  \'< 

look-out  points  where  he  can  catch  a  glimpse  of 
these  mighty  movements.  It  seems  best  to  study 
in  eighth  grade  such  topics,  subsequent  to  the 
Revolution,  as  children  can  best  understand  and 
as  will  give  them  a  clear  view  of  the  chief  move- 
ments of  this  century.  We  suggest  three  books 
for  reading  and  discussion  in  this  grade:  Life  of 
John  Quincy  Adams,  Life  of  Daniel  Webster,  and 
Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  (First  two  of  States- 
man's series.)  See  Special  Method  in  Literature 
and  History;  last  chapter,  p.  107. 

Parallel  to  whatever  history  we  attempt  to 
teach  in  the  eighth  grade  should  run  a  selection 
of  the  best  literary  products  that  our  American 
authors  can  furnish,  and  here  again  we  are  rich 
in  resources.  The  thought  and  life  of  our  people 
find  their  high- water  mark  in  the  poet's  clarion 
note  and  the  statesman's  impassioned  appeal.  No 
others  have  perceived  the  destiny  of  our  young 
republic  as  our  cherished  poets,  Longfellow, 
Whittier,  Bryant,  Holmes,  and  Emerson.  They 
have  stood  upon  the  mountain  tops,  looking  far 
and  wide  through  the  clear  atmosphere  while  the 
great  army  of  the  people  have  been  tenting  in  the 
valleys  below.  These  wakeful  priests  and  proph- 
ets have  caught  the  bright  tints  of  the  morning 
while  the  people  were  still  asleep,  and  have  wit- 
nessed the  suffused  glory  of  the  sunset  clouds 
when  the  weary  masses  below  had  already  forgot- 
ten the  day's  toil.  One  thing  at  least,  and  that 


46  Si>n-!iil  Method. 


the  greatest,  can  be  done  for  our  children  before 
they  finish  the  common  school  course.  They  may 
rise  into  this  pure  atmosphere  of  poet,  patriot, 
sage,  and  prophet.  They  may  hear  these  death- 
less strains  and  feel  the  thrill  of  these  clarion 
notes.  Let  their  ears  be  once  attuned  to  the 
strength  and  harmony  of  this  music  and  it  will 
not  cease  to  echo  in  their  deeper  being.  The  fu- 
ture patriots  will  be  at  hand  and  the  coming  years 
will  see  them  rising  to  the  great  duties  that  in- 
evitably await  them.  We  have  a  body  of  noble, 
patriotic  material  which  is  capable  of  producing 
this  effect  if  handled  by  skillful  teachers.  The 
Ordinance  of  1787,  The  Federalist,  numbers  1  and 
2,  Washington's  Inaugurals  and  the  Farewell  Ad- 
dress, Everett's  Oration  on  Washington,  O,  Mother 
of  a  Mighty  Race  (Bryant);  Our  Country's  Call 
(Bryant);  Abraham  Lincoln  (Bryant);  Lincoln's 
Inaugurals  and  Gettysburg  Speech,  Army  Hymn, 
and  The  Flower  of  Liberty  (Holmes);  Webster's 
Second  Speech  on  Foot's  -Resolution,  The  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation,  The  Fortune  of  the  Re- 
public, etc.,  (Emerson);  Antiquity  of  Freedom 
(Bryant);  Centennial  Hymn  (Whittier);  The  Build- 
ing of  the  Ship  (Longfellow);  The  Poor  Voter  on 
Election  Day  (Whittier). 

Why  not  gather  together  these  sources  of 
power,  of  unselfish  patriotism,  of  self-sacrifice,  of 
noble  and  inspiring  impulse?  Let  this  fruit-bring- 
ing seed  be  sown  deep  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of 


Reading.  47 

the  receptive  young-.  What  has  inspired  the  best 
of  men  to  high  thinking  and  living  can  touch  them. 

It  is  not  by  reading  and  declaiming  a  few  mis- 
cellaneous fragments  of  patriotic  gush,  not  by 
waving  flags  and  banners  and  following  proces- 
sions,that  the  deeper  sentiments  of  patriotism  and 
humanity  are  to  be  touched,  but  by  gathering  and 
concentrating  these  fuller,  richer  sources  of  spir- 
itual power  and  conscious  national  destiny.  The 
school-room  is  by  far  the  best  place  to  consolidate 
these  purifying  and  conserving  sentiments.  By 
gathering  into  a  rising  series  and  focusing  in  the 
higher  grades  the  various  forms,  in  prose  and 
verse,  in  which  the  genius  of  our  country  has 
found  its  strongest  expression;  by  associating 
these  ringing  sentiments  with  the  epochs  and 
crises  of  our  history,  with  the  valorous  deeds  of 
patriots  upon  the  field  and  of  statesmen  in  the 
senate,  with  the  life  and  longings  of  home  nur- 
tured poets  and  sages  we  shall  plant  seed  whose 
fruitage  will  not  disappoint  the  lovers  of  the  Fa- 
therland. 

Mr.  Horace  E.  Scudder  in  his  two  essays  on 
Literature  and  American  Classics  in  the  common 
school  has  portrayed  with  convincing  clearness 
the  spiritual  power  and  high-toned  American- 
ism which  breathe  from  those  literary  monuments 
which  have  been  quarried  from  our  own  hillsides 
and  chiseled  by  American  hands.  We  recommend 
to  .every  teacher  the  reading  in  full  of  these  essays 
from  which  we  quote  at  much  length: 


is  Special  Method. 

"Fifty  years  ago  there  were  living  in  America 
six  men  of  mark  of  whom  the  youngest  was  then 
nineteen  years  of  age,  the  oldest  forty-four.  Three 
of  the  six  are  in  their  graves  and  three  still  breathe 
the  kindly  air.  (Since  this  was  written  in  1888 
the  last  of  the  six  has  passed  away.)  One  only 
of  the  six  has  held  high  place  in  the  national 
councils  and  it  is  not  by  that  distinction  that  he 
is  known  and  loved.  They  have  not  been  in 
battle;  they  have  had  no  armies  at  their  com- 
mand; they  have  not  amassed  great  fortunes, 
nor  have  great  industries  waited  on  their  move- 
ments. Those  pageants  of  circumstances  which 
kindle  the  imagination  have  been  remote  from 
their  names.  They  were  born  on  American  soil; 
they  have  breathed  American  air;  they  were 
nurtured  on  American  ideas.  They  are  Americans 
of  Americans.  They  are  as  truly  the  issue  of  our 
national  life,  as  are  the  common  schools  in  which 
we  glory.  During  the  fifty  years  in  which  our 
common-school  system  has  been  growing  up  to 
maturity  these  six  have  lived  and  sung;  and  I 
dare  say  that  the  lives  and  songs  of  Bryant,  Em- 
erson, Longfellow,  Whittier,  Holmes,  and  Lowell, 
have  an  imperishable  value,  regarded  as  expo- 
nents of  national  life,  not  for  a  moment  to  be  out- 
weighed in  the  balance  by  the  most  elaborate  sys- 
tem of  common  schools  which  the  wit  of  man  may 
devise.  The  nation  may  command  armies  and 
schools  to  rise  from  the  soil,  but  it  cannot  call 


Itcadhx/.  49 

into  life  a  poet.  Yet  when  the  poet  comes  and 
we  hear  his  voice  in  the  upper  air,  then  we  know 
the  nation  he  owns  is  worthy  of  the  name.  Do 
men  gather  grapes  of  thorns  or  figs  of  thistles  ? 
Even  so,  pure  poetry  springs  from  no  rank  soil  of 
national  life. 

'  'I  am  not  arguing  for  the  critical  study  of  our 
great  authors,  in  the  higher  grades  of  our  schools. 
They  are  not  the  best  subjects  for  critical  schol- 
arship; criticism  demands  greater  remoteness, 
greater  foreignness  of  nature.  Moreover,  critical 
study  is  not  the  surest  method  of  securing  the  full 
measure  of  spiritual  light,  though  it  yields  abund- 
ant gain  in  the  refinement  of  the  intellectual  na- 
ture and  in  the  quickening  of  the  perceptive  fac- 
ulties. I  am  arguing  for  the  free,  generous  use  of 
these  authors  in  the  principal  years  of  school  life. 
It  is  then  that  their  power  is  most  profoundly 
needed,  and  will  be  most  strongly  felt.  We  need 
to  put  our  children  in  their  impressionable  years 
into  instant  and  close  connection  with  the  high- 
est manifestation  of  our  national  life.  Away  with 
the  bottle  and  the  tube.  Give  them  a  lusty  draft 
at  the  mother's  full  breast! 

"  Nor  do  I  fear  that  such  a  course  will  breed  a 
narrow  and  parochial  Americanism.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  would  destroy  a  vulgar  pride  in  country, 
help  the  young  to  see  humanity  from  the  heights 
on  which  the  masters  of  song  have  dwelt,  and 
open  the  mind  to  the  more  hospitable  entertain- 


50  Special  Method. 

ment  of  the  best  literature  of  every  clime  and  age. 
I  am  convinced  that  there  is  no  surer  way  to  in- 
troduce the  best  English  literature  into  our  schools 
than  to  give  the  place  of  honor  to  American  liter- 
ature. In  the  order  of  nature  a  youth  must  be  a 
citizen  of  his  own  country  before  he  can  become 
naturalized  in  the  world.  We  recognize  this  in 
our  geography  and  history;  we  may  wisely  recog- 
nize it  also  in  our  reading. 

"  The  place,  then,  of  literature  in  our  common- 
school  education  is  in  spiritualizing  life,  letting 
light  into  the  mind,  inspiring  and  feeding  the 
higher  forces  of  human  nature. 

"It  is  the  business  of  the  old  to  transmit  to 
the  young  the  great  traditions  of  the  past  of  the 
country;  to  feed  anew  the  undying  flame  of  pa- 
triotism. There  is  the  element  of  destiny.  No 
nation  lives  upon  its  past;  it  is  already  dead  when 
it  says:  'Let  us  eat  and  drink  to-day;  to-morrow 
we  die.'  But  what  that  destiny  is  to  be  may  be 
read  in  the  ideals  which  the  young  are  forming; 
and  those  ideals,  again,  it  is  the  business  of  the 
old  to  guide.  They  cannot  form  them;  the  young 
must  form  them  for  themselves;  but  whether  these 
ideals  shall  be  large  or  petty,  honorable  or  mean, 
will  depend  upon  the  sustenance  on  which  they 
are  fed. 

"  Now,  in  a  democracy  more  signally  than 
under  any  other  form  of  national  organization,  it  is 
vitally  necessary  that  there  should  be  an  unceas- 


Reading.  51 

in«-,  unimpeded  circulation  of  the  spiritual  life  of 
the  people.  The  sacrifice  of  the  men  and  women 
who  have  made  and  preserved  America,  from  the 
days  of  Virginia  and  New  England  to  this  hour, 
has  been  ascending  from  the  earth  in  a  never- 
ending  cloud;  they  have  fallen  again  in  strains  of 
music,  in  sculpture,  in  painting,  in  memorial  hall, 
in  tale,  in  oration,  in  poem,  in  consecration  of  life; 
and  the  spirit  which  ascended  is  the  same  as  that 
which  descended.  In  literature  above  all  is  this 
spirit  enshrined.  You  have  but  to  throw  open  the 
shrine  and  the  spirit  comes  with  its  outspread 
blessings  upon  millions  of  waiting  souls.  Entering 
them,  it  reissues  in  countless  shapes,  and  thus  is 
the  life  of  the  nation  in  its  highest  form  kept  ever 
in  motion,  and  without  motion  is  no  life. 

"The  deposit  of  nationality  is  in  laws,  institu- 
tions, art,  character,  and  religion;  but  laws,  insti- 
tutions, character,  and  religion  are  expressed 
through  art  and  mainly  through  the  art  of  let- 
ters. It  is  literature,  therefore,  that  holds  in 
precipitation  the  genius  of  the  country,  and  the 
higher  the  form  of  literature,  the  more  consum- 
mate the  expression  of  that  spirit  which  does  not 
so  much  seek  a  materialization  as  it  shapes  itself 
inevitably  in  fitting  form.  Long  may  we  read 
and  ponder  the  life  of  Washington,  yet  at  last 
fall  back  content  upon  those  graphic  lines  of 
Lowell  in  Under  the  Old  Elm,  which  cause  the 
figure  of  the  great  American  to  outline  itself  upon 


.'ii:  Special  Method. 

the  imagination  with  large  and  strong  portrait- 
ure. The  spirit  of  the  orations  of  Webster  and 
Benton,  the  whole  history  of  the  young  giant 
poised  in  conscious  strength  before  his  triumph- 
ant struggle,  one  may  catch  in  a  breath  in  those 
glowing  lines  which  end  The  Building  of  the  Ship. 
The  deep  passion  of  the  war  for  the  Union  may  be 
overlooked  in  some  formal  study  of  battles  and 
^campaigns,  but  rises  pure,  strong,  and  flaming  in 
the  immortal  Gettysburg  Speech. 

"Precisely  thus  the  sentiment  of  patriotism 
must  be  kept  fresh  and  living  in  the  hearts  of  the 
young  through  quick  and  immediate  contact  with 
the  sources  of  that  sentiment;  and  the  most  help- 
ful means  are  those  spiritual  deposits  of  patriot- 
ism which  we  find  in  noble  poetry  and  lofty  prose, 
as  communicated  by  men  who  have  lived  pa- 
triotic lives  and  been  fed  with  coals  from  the  altar. 

"It  is  from  the  men  and  women  bred  on  Ameri- 
can soil  that  the  fittest  words  come  for  the  spir- 
itual enrichment  of  American  youth.  I  believe 
heartily  in  the  advantage  of  enlarging  one's  ho- 
rizon by  taking  in  other  climes  and  other  ages, 
but  first  let  us  make  sure  of  that  great  expan- 
sive power  which  lies  close  at  hand.  I  am  sure 
there  never  was  a  time  or  country  where  national 
education,  under  the  guidance  of  national  art  and 
thought,  was  so  possible  as  in  America  to-day. 

"The  body  of  wholesome,  strong  American  lit-, 
erature  is  large  enough  to  make  it  possible  to  keep 


53 

boys  and  girls  upon  it  from  the  time  when  they  be- 
gin to  recognize  the  element  of  authorship  until 
they  leave  the  school,  and  it  is  varied  and  flexible 
enough  to  give  employment  to  the  mind  in  all  its 
stages  of  development.  Moreover,  this  literature 
is  interesting,  and  is  allied  with  interesting  con- 
cerns; half  the  hard  places  are  overcome  by  the 
willing  mind,  and  the  boy  who  stumbles  over  some 
jejune  lesson  in  his  reading  book  will  run  over  a 
bit  of  genuine  prose  from  Irving  which  the  school 
book  maker,  with  his  calipers  pronounces  too 
hard. 

"We  have  gone  quite  far  enough  in  the  mechan- 
ical development  of  the  common  school  system. 
What  we  most  need  is  the  breath  of  life,  and  read- 
ing offers  the  noblest  means  for  receiving  and  im- 
parting this  breath  of  life.  The  spiritual  element 
in  education  in  our  common  schools  will  be  found 
to  lie  in  reserve  in  literature,  and,  as  I  believe, 
most  effectively  in  American  literature. 

"Think  for  a  moment  of  that  great,  silent,  re- 
sistless power  for  good  which  might  at  this  mo- 
ment be  lifting  the  youth  of  the  country,  were  the 
hours  for  reading  in  school  expended  upon  the  un- 
dying, life-giving  books!  Think  of  the  substantial 
growth  of  a  generous  Americanism,  were  the  boys 
and  girls  to  be  fed  from  the  fresh  springs  of  Amer- 
ican literature.  It  would  be  no  narrow  provincial- 
ism into  which  they  would  emerge.  The  windows 
in  Longfellow's  mind  looked  to  the  east,  and  the 


54  Special  Method. 

children  who  have  entered  into  possession  of  his 
wealth  travel  far.  Bryant's  flight  carries  one 
through  upper  air,  over  broad  champaigns.  The 
lover  of  Emerson  has  learned  to  get  a  remote 
vision.  The  companion  of  Thoreau  finds  Concord 
become  suddenly  the  center  of  a  very  wide  hori- 
zon. Irving  has  annexed  Spain  to  America.  Haw- 
thorne has  nationalized  the  gods  of  Greece  and 
given  an  atmosphere  to  New  England.  Whittier 
has  translated  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  into  the 
American  dialect.  Lowell  gives  the  American 
boy  an  academy  without  cutting  dowrn  a  stick  of 
timber  in  the  grove,  or  disturbing  the  birds. 
Holmes  supplies  that  hickory  which  makes  one 
careless  of  the  crackling  of  thorns.  Franklin 
makes  the  America  of  a  past  generation  a  part  of 
the  great  world  before  treaties  had  bound  the 
floating  states  into  formal  connection  with  vener- 
able nations.  What  is  all  this  but  saying  that  the 
rich  inheritance  we  have  is  no  local  ten-acre  lot, 
but  a  part  of  the  undivided  estate  of  humanity. 
Universality,  Cosmopolitanism  —  these  are  fine 
words,  but  no  man  ever  secured  the  freedom  of 
the  Universe  who  did  not  first  pay  taxes  and  vote 
in  his  own  village."  "Literature  in  School," 
Houghton  and  Mifflin. 

The  series  of  American  classics  is  nowise  con- 
fined to  the  ideas  of  local  or  national  patriotism, 
but  above  and  beyond  that  deep  and  powerful 
sentiment  which  magnifies  the  opportunity  and 


lieadi/i'/.  55 

manifest  destiny  of  our  nation,  it  grasps  at  the 
ideal  form  and  content  of  those  Christian  virtues 
which  now  and  evermore  carry  healing  and  com- 
fort to  the  toiling1  millions.  Our  poets,  as  they 
have  pondered  on  the  past  and  looked  into  the 
future,  were  not  able  to  be  content  with  less  than 
the  best.  As  the  vision  of  the  coming  years  un- 
rolled itself  before  them  they  looked  upon  it  with 
joy  mingled  with  solicitude.  In  the  mighty  con- 
flicts now  upon  us  only  those  of  generous  and 
saintly  purpose  and  of  pure  hearts  can  prevail. 

"  Brief  is  the  time,  I  know, 
The  warfare  scarce  begun; 
Yet  all  may  win  the  triumphs  thou  hast  won. 

Still  flows  the  fount  whose  waters  strengthened  thee, 
The  victors'  names  are  yet  too  few  to  fill 

Heaven's  mighty  roll;  the  glorious  armory 
That  ministered  to  thee  is  open  still.'' 

— Bryant. 

To  reveal  this  Christian  armory,  the  defenses 
of  the  soul  against  the  assaults  of  evil,  has  been 
the  highest  inspiration  of  our  poets.  What  depth 
and  beauty  and  impersonation  of  Christlike  vir 
tues  do  we  find  in  Snow  Bound,  Among  the  Hills, 
Evangeline,  The  Psalm  of  Life,  The  Village 
Blacksmith,  The  Conqueror's  Grave,  To  a  Water- 
fowl, The  Groves  were  God's  First  Temples,  The 
Living  Temple,  The  Sun  Day  Hymn,  The  Cham- 
bered Nautilus,  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,  The  Great 
Stone  Face. 


5ti  ^iti'dal  Method. 


The  Bible-is  no  longer  generally  admissible  as 
a  school  text-book,  but  the  spirit  of  Christianity, 
clad  in  the  forms  of  strength  and  grace,  is  imma- 
nent in  the  works  of  our  poets.  So  universal,  so 
human,  so  fit  to  the  needs  and  destinies  of  men, 
are  the  truths  of  the  great  evangel  that  the 
prophets  and  seers  of  our  race  drift  evermore  into 
the  sheltering  haven  they  supply.  To  drink  in 
these  potent  truths  through  poetry  and  song,  to 
see  them  enshrined  in  the  imagery  and  fervor  of 
the  sacred  masterpieces  of  our  literature,  is  more 
than  culture,  more  than  morality;  it  is  the  portal 
and  sanctuary  of  religious  thought;  and  children 
may  enter  here. 

But  our  writers  and  literary  leaders  were  not 
simply  Americans.  They  were  also  Europeans. 
The  Puritan  brought  his  religion  with  him,  the 
Cavalier  acquired  his  gentlemanly  instincts  in  the 
old  home,  not  in  the  untrodden  forests  of  the  New 
World.  Much  of  what  we  call  American  is  the 
wine  of  the  Old  World  poured  into  the  bearskins 
and  buckskins  of  the  west,  with  a  flavor  of  the 
freedom  of  our  western  wilds.  Though  born 
and  bred  on  American  soil  and  to  the  last  exem- 
plars of  the  American  spirit,  our  literary  leaders 
have  derived  their  ideas  and  inspiration  from  the 
literature,  tradition,  and  history  of  the  Old  World. 
It  will  be  no  small  part  of  our  purpose,  therefore, 
to  open  up  to  the  children  of  our  common  schools 
the  best  entrance  to  the  history  and  literature  of 


Readmy  f>7 

Europe.  Our  own  writers  and  poets  have  done 
this  for  us  in  a  variety  of  instances.  Hawthorne's 
rendering  of  the  Greek  Myths,  Bryant's  Transla- 
tion of  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey,  a  good  half  of 
Irving's  Sketch  Book,  Lowell's  Vision  of  Sir 
Launfal,  Aladdin,  and  Prometheus;  Irving's  Al- 
hambra,  Longfellow's  Golden  Legend,  Sandol- 
phin ;  Taylor's  Boys  of  Other  Countries.  Nearly 
the  whole  of  our  literature,  even  when  deal- 
ing ostensibly  with  American  topics,  is  suf- 
fused with  the  spirit  and  imagery  of  the  Old 
World  traditions.  For  example,  Hiawatha,  Evan- 
geline,  and  Little  People  of  the  Snow.  There  is 
also  a  large  collection  of  prose  versions  of  Eu- 
ropean traditions  and  stories,  which,  while  not 
classic,  are  still  lively  renderings  of  classic  stories 
and  well  suited  to  the  collateral  reading  of  chil- 
dren. Such  are  Gods  and  Heroes, Tales  from  Eng- 
lish History,  Tales  from  Spencer, Heroes  of  Asgard, 
Story  of  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey. 

The  transition  from  our  own  poets,  who  have 
handled  European  themes,  to  English  writers  who 
have  done  the  same,  is  easy  and  natural;  Macau- 
lay's  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,  Scott's  Tales  of  a 
Grandfather,  The  Stories  of  Waverly,  the  Christ- 
mas Carol,  Kingsley's  Greek  Heroes  and  Water 
Babies,  Ruskin's  King  of  the  Golden  River,  Lady 
of  the  Lake,  Marmion,  Roger  de  Coverley  Papers, 
Merchant  of  Venice,  Arabian  Nights,  Peasant  and 
Prince,  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Gulliver's 


68  Special  Method. 

Travels,  and  others  have  become  by  inheritance 
and  birthright  as  much  a  part  of  the  American 
child's  culture  as  the  more  distinctive  products  of 
our  own  writers.  No  line  can  be  drawn  between 
those  writing's  which  are  American  and  those 
which  sprung  from  the  soil  of  England  and  Europe. 
So  intimate  and  vital  is  the  connection  between 
our  present  and  our  past,  between  our  children 
and  their  cousins  across  the  water. 

These  American  and  European  literary  pro- 
ducts lie  side  by  side  in  the  school  course,  though 
the  predominating  spirit  through  the  middle  and 
higher  grades  up  to  the  eighth  should  be  Ameri- 
can. We  have  noticed  that  in  the  earlier  grades 
most  of  our  classic  reading  matter  comes  from  Eu- 
rope,the  nursery  rhymes,  the  folk-lore,  fables,  and 
myths;  because  the  childhood  of  our  culture  per- 
iods was  in  Europe.  But  into  the  fourth  grade, 
and  from  there  on,  beginning  with  the  pioneers 
on  sea  and  land,  our  American  history  and  litera- 
ture enter  as  a  powerful  agent  of  culture.  It 
brings  us  into  quick  and  vital  contact  not  simply 
with  the  outward  facts  but  with  the  inmost  spirit 
of  our  national  life  and  struggle  toward  develop- 
ment. This  gives  the  American  impulse  free  and 
full  expansion  and  fortunate  are  we,  beyond  ex- 
pression, that  pure  and  lofty  poets  stand  at  the 
threshold  to  usher  the  children  into  this  realm 
founded  deep  in  the  realism  of  our  past  history, 
and  rising  grandly  into  the  idealism  of  our  pure 


Beading.  59 

desires  and  hopes.  As  we  advance  into  the  sixth, 
seventh,  and  eighth  grades  the  literature  of  Eu- 
rope begins  again  to  increase  in. quantity  and  in- 
fluence and  to  share  equally  with  American  au- 
thors the  attention  of  the  children. 

The  Americanism  of  our  poets  and  prose  writ- 
ers has  also  another  side  to  it  which  is  one  sign  of 
the  breadth  and  many-sidedness  of  literature  as  a 
study  for  the  young.  North  America  is  a  land 
rich  in  variety  of  natural  scenery  and  resource. 
Nature  has  decked  the  new  world  with  a  lavish 
hand,  forest  and  mountain,  lake  and  river,  prairie 
and  desert,  the  summer  land  of  flowers,  and  the 
home  of  New  England  winters.  The  masterpieces 
of  our  poets  are  full  of  the  scenery,  vegetation, 
sunsets,  mountains,  and  prairies  of  the  western 
empire.  The  flowers,  the  birds,  the  wild  beasts, 
the  pathless  forests,  the  limitless  stretches  of 
plain,  have  mirrored  themselves  in  the  songs  of  our 
poets  and  have  rendered  them  dearer  to  us  because 
seen  and  realized  in  this  idealism.  Unconsciously 
perhaps  the  feeling  of  patriotism  is  largely  based 
upon  this  knowledge  of  the  rich  and  varied  beauty 
and  bounty  of  our  native  land. 

"  I  love  thy  rocks  and  rills, 
Thy  woods  and  templed  hills, 
My  heart  with  rapture  thrills, 
Like  that  above." 

As  along  the  shores  of  our  northern  lakes  the 
clear  and  quiet  waters  reflect  the  green  banks,  the 


60  Special  Method. 

rolling-  forest -crowned  hills,  the  rocky  bluffs,  the 
floating-  clouds  and  over-arching  sky  of  blue,  so 
in  the  homespun,  classic  verse  and  prose  of  our 
own  writers  are  imaged  the  myriad  charms  of  our 
native  land.  Bryant  especially  is  the  poet  of  for- 
est and  glade.  The  Forest  Hymn,  The  Death  of 
the  Flowers,  The  Return  of  the  Birds,  A  Summer 
Ramble,  The  Fringed  Gentian,  The  Hunter  of  the 
Prairies,  The  White-footed  Deer,  To  a  Waterfowl, 
Thanatopsis,  and  many  others.  Longfellow's  Hia- 
watha,Evangeline;  Whittier's  Barefoot  Boy, Songs 
of  Labor,  Among  the  Hills,  and  Snow  Bound; 
Hawthorne's  Tales  of  the  White  Hills,  Holmes' 
Spring,  Lowell's  Indian  Summer  Reverie,  The 
Oak,  and  many  more. 

Verging  more  toward  pure  science,  and  still 
aglow  with  the  poet's  love  of  nature,  are  Bur- 
roughs' Wake  Robin,  Birds  and  Bees,  Sharp  Eyes, 
etc. ;  Thoreau's  Succession  of  Forest  Trees  and 
Wild  Apples;  Warner's  Hunting  of  the  Deer,  etc., 
and  many  other  choice  products  of  our  own  liter- 
ature. The  love  of  nature  in  all  her  forms  can  not 
be  better  instilled  than  by  following  these  poets 
in  their  rambles.  Nature  study,  as  demanded  by 
the  lovers  of  pure  science,  must  become  an  inte- 
gral and  vital  part  of  our  school  course.  While 
the  study  of  literature  as  it  images  nature,  can 
not  take  the  place  of  pure  science,  it  is  the  most 
powerful  ally  that  the  scientists  can  call  in.  The 
poets  can  do  as  much  to  idealize  science  study,  to 


Reading.  61 

wake  the  dull  eye,  and  quicken  the  languid  inter- 
est in  nature,  as  scientists  themselves.  Away 
with  this  presumed  antagonism  between  litera- 
ture and  science !  Neither  is  complete  without  the 
other.  Neither  can  stand  on  its  own  feet.  But 
together,  in  mutual  support,  they  can  not  be 
tripped  up.  The  facts,  the  laws,  the  utilities, 
adaptations,  and  wonders  in  nature  are  not  so 
marvelous  but  the  poet's  eye  will  pierce  beneath 
and  above  them,  will  give  them  a  deeper  inter- 
pretation and  clothe  them  in  a  garment  of  beauty 
and  praise.  There  is  nothing  beautiful  or  grand 
or  praiseworthy  that  the  poet's  eye  will  not  detect 
it,  and  the  poet's  art  reveal  it  in  living  and  lasting 
forms.  Let  the  scientist  delve  and  the  poet  sing. 
The  messages  between  them  should  be  only  those 
of  cheer. 

The  literature  selected  for  these  grades  has  a 
wide  scope.  It  is  instinct  with  the  best  Ameri- 
canism. It  draws  from  Europe  at  every  breath, 
while  enjoying  the  freedom  of  the  west.  Social, 
political,  and  home  life  and  virtue  are  portrayed 
in  great  variety  of  dress.  Nature  also  and  nat- 
ural science  reveal  the  myriad  forms  of  beauty 
and  utility. 


62  Special  Method. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Value  of  Classics  to  the  Teacher. 

In  discussing  the  value  and  fruitfulness  of  this 
field  of  study  to  children  it  is  impossible  to  for- 
bear the  suggestion  of  its  scope  and  significance 
for  teachers.  If  the  masters  of  song  and  expres- 
sion are  able  to  work  so  strongly  upon  the  imma- 
ture minds  of  children,  how  much  deeper  the  influ- 
ence upon  the  mature  and  thoughtful  minds  of 
teachable  teachers!  They  above  all  others  should 
have  dispositions  receptive  of  the  best  educational 
influences.  The  duties  and  experiences  of  their 
daily  work  predispose  them  toward  an  earnest 
and  teachable  spirit.  In  very  many  cases,  there- 
fore, their  minds  are  wide  open  to  the  reception 
of  the  best.  And  how  deep  and  wide  and  many- 
sided  is  this  enfranchisement  of  the  soul  through 
literature! 

It  is  a  gateway  to  history;  not,  however,  that 
castaway  shell  which  our  text-books,  in  the  form 
of  a  dull  recital  of  facts,  call  history;  but  its  heart 
and  soul,  the  living,  breathing  men  and  women, 
the  source  and  incentive  of  great  movements  and 
struggles  toward  the  light.  Literature  does  not 
make  the  study  of  history  superfluous,  but  it  puts 
a  purpose  into  history  which  lies  deeper  than  the 


Beading.  63 

facts,  it  sifts  out  the  wheat  from  the  chaff,  casts 
aside  the  superficial  and  accidental,  and  gets  down 
into  the  deep  current  of  events  where  living  causes 
are  at  work. 

The  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish,  for  example, 
is  deeper  and  stronger  than  history  because  it 
idealizes  the  stern  and  rigid  qualities  of  the  Puri- 
tan, while  John  Alden  and  Priscilla  touch  a 
deeper  universal  sympathy,  and  body  forth  in 
forms  of  beauty  that  pulsing  human  love  which 
antedates  the  Puritan  and  underlies  all  forms  of 
religion  and  society. 

Illustrative  cases  have  been  given  in  sufficient 
abundance  to  show  that  literature,  among  other 
things,  has  a  strong  political  side.  It  grasps  with 
a  master  hand  those  questions  which  involve  true 
patriotism.  It  exalts  them  into  ideals,  and  fires 
the  hearts  of  the  people  to  devotion  and  sacrifice 
for  their  fulfillment. 

Burke 's  Oration  on  the  American  War  is  to  one 
who  has  studied  American  history  an  astonishing 
confirmation  of  how  righteous  and  far-sighted 
were  the  principles  for  which  Samuel  Adams  and 
the  other  patriots  struggled  at  the  opening  of  the 
Revolution.  Webster's  speech  at  Bunker  Hill  is 
a  graphic  and  fervent  retrospect  on  the  past  of  a 
great  struggle  and  a  prophetic  view  of  the  swell- 
ing tide  of  individual,  social,  and  national  well- 
being. 

If  the  teacher  is  to  interpret  history  to  school 


64  Special  Method. 

children,  he  must  learn  to  grasp  what  is  essential 
and  vital,  he  must  be  able  to  discriminate  between 
those  events  which  are  trivial  and  those  of  lasting 
concern.  The  study  of  our  best  American  litera- 
ture will  reveal  to  him  this  distinction  and  make 
him  a  keen  and  comprehensive  critic  of  political 
affairs. 

Literature  is  also  a  mirror  that  reflects  many 
sides  of  social  life  and  usage.  There  is  no  part  of 
a  teacher's  education  that  is  so  vital  to  i;is  prac- 
tical success  as  social  culture.  John  Locke's 
Thoughts  on  Education  are,  in  the  main,  an  in- 
quiry into  the  methods  and  means  by  which  an 
English  gentleman  can  be  formed.  The  aim  of  the 
tutor  who  has  this  difficult  task,  is  not  chiefly  to 
give  learning,  to  fill  the  mind  with  information, 
to  develop  mentality,  but  to  train  the  practical 
judgment  in  harmony  with  gentlemanly  conduct. 
The  tutor,  himself  a  scholar,  is  to  know  the  world, 
its  ins  and  outs,  its  varieties  of  social  distinction 
and  usage,  its  snares  and  pitfalls,  its  wise  men 
and  fools.  The  child  is  to  learn  to  look  the  world 
in  the  face  and  understand  it,  to  know  himself 
and  to  be  master  of  himself  and  of  his  conduct,  to 
appreciate  other  people  in  their  moods  and  char- 
acters, and  to  adapt  himself  prudently  and  with 
tact  to  the  practical  needs.  The  gentleman  whom 
Locke  sets  up  as  his  ideal  is  not  a  fashion-plate 
figure,  not  a  drawing-room  gallant,  but  a  clear- 
headed man  who  understands  other  people  and 


Reading.  <;."» 

himseif,  and  has  been  led  by  insensible  degrees  to 
so  shape  his  habitual  conduct  as  most  wisely  to 
answer  his  needs  in  the  real  world.  Emerson, 
with  all  his  lofty  idealism  and  unconventionaiism, 
has  an  ideal  of  education  nearly  akin  to  that  of 
Locke.  This  social  ideal  of  Locke  and  Emerson 
is  one  that  American  teachers  can  well  afford  to 
ponder.  As  a  nation  we  have  been  accustomed 
to  think  that  a  certain  amount  of  roughness  and 
boorishness  was  necessary  as  a  veil  to  cover  the 
strongest  manly  qualities.  Smoothness  and  tact 
and  polish,  however  successful  they  may  be  in 
real  life,  are,  theoretically  at  least,  at  a  discount. 
The  Adamses,  Jefferson,  Jackson,  Lincoln, Thoreau, 
were  men  who  did  violence  in  a  good  many  ways 
to  social  usages,  and  we  may  admire  them  too 
much  for  it. 

To  the  teacher  who  stands  in  the  presence  of 
thirty  to  fifty  distinct  species  of  incipient  men  and 
women, social  insight  and  culture,  the  ability  to  ap- 
preciate each  in  his  individual  traits,  his  strength 
or  weakness,  is  a  prime  essential  to  good  educa- 
tive work. 

Now,there  are  two  avenues  through  which  so- 
cial culture  is  attainable, — contact  with  men  and 
women  in  the  social  environment  wrhich  envelops 
us  all,  and  literature.  Literature  is  first  of  all  a 
hundred-sided  revelation  of  human  conduct  as 
springing  from  motive.  Irving, Hawthorne, Long- 
fellow, Holmes,  and  Lowell  are  revealers  of  hu 


66  Special  Method. 

manity.  Still  more  so  are  Dickens,  and  Eliot, 
and  Shakespeare,  and  Goethe.  To  study  these 
authors  is  not  simply  to  enjoy  the  graphic  power 
of  an  artist,  but  to  look  into  the  lives  of  so  many 
varieties  of  men  and  women.  They  lay  bare  the 
heart  and  its  inward  promptings.  Our  apprecia- 
tion for  many  forms  of  life  under  widely  differing 
conditions  is  awakened.  We  come  in  touch  with 
those  typical  varieties  of  men  and  woman  whom 
we  shall  daily  meet  if  we  will  but  notice.  It 
broadens  one's  perceptions  and  sympathies,  it  re- 
veals the  many-sidedness  of  human  life.  It  sug- 
gests to  a  teacher  that  the  forty  varieties  of  hu- 
manity in  her  schoolroom  are  not  after  one  pat- 
tern, nor  to  be  manipulated  according  to  a  single 
device. 

Literature  is  also  a  sharp  and  caustic  critic  of 
our  own  follies  or  foibles,  to  one  who  can  reflect. 
It  has  a  multitude  of  surprises  by  which  we  are 
able,  as  Burns  wished, 

"  To  see  oursel's  as  ithers  see  us." 

Practical  social  life  and  literature  are  not  dis- 
tinct modes  of  culture.  They  are  one,  they  inter- 
act upon  each  other  in  scores  of  ways.  Give  a 
teacher  social  opportunities,  give  him  the  best  of 
our  classic  literature,  let  these  two  work  their 
full  influence  upon  him, — then  if  he  cannot  be- 
come a  teacher,  it  is  a  hopeless  case.  Let  him  go 
to  the  shop,  to  the  farm,  or  to  the  legislature; 
there  is  no  place  for  him  in  the  schoolroom. 


Beading.  67 

It  is  in  literature,  also,  and  in  those  lives  and 
scenes  from  history  which  literary  artists  have 
worked  up  that  the  teacher  can  best  develop  his 
own  moral  ideals  and  strengthen  the  groundwork 
of  his  own  moral  character.  The  stream  will 
not  rise  above  its  source,  and  a  teacher's  moral 
influence  in  a  school  will  not  reach  above  the  in- 
spirations from  high  sources  which  he  himself  has 
felt.  Those  teachers  who  have  devoted  them- 
selves solely  to  the  mastery  of  the  texts  they 
teach,  who  have  read  little  from  our  best  writers, 
are  drawing  upon  a  slender  capital  of  moral  re- 
source. Not  even  if  home  influences  have  laid  a 
sound  basis  of  moral  habits  are  these  sufficient  re- 
serves for  the  exigencies  of  teaching.  The  moral 
nature  of  the  teacher  needs  constant  stimulus  to 
upward  growing,  and  the  children  need  examples, 
ideal  illustrations,  life  and  blood  impersonations 
of  the  virtues,  and  literature  is  the  chief  and  only 
safe  reservoir  from  which  to  draw  them. 

Besides  the  historical,  social,  and.  moral  tu- 
ition for  teachers  in  literature,  there  are  several 
other  important  culture  effects  in  it.  The  deepest 
religious  incentives  are  touched,  nature  in  her 
myriad  phases  is  observed  with  the  eye  of  the 
poet  and  scientist,  and  the  esthetic  side  of  poetry 
and  rhythmic  prose,  its  charm  and  graces  of  style, 
its  music  and  eloquence,  work  their  influence  upon 
the  reader.  Literature  is  a  harp  of  many  strings, 
and  happy  is  that  teacher  who  has  learned  to  de 


68  Special  Method. 

tect  its  tones  and  overtones,  who  has  listened  with 
pleasure  to  its  varied  raptures,  and  has  felt  that 
expansion  of  soul  which  it  produces. 

Literature,  in  the  «ense  in  which  we  have  been 
using1  it,  has  been  called  the  literature  of  power, 
the  literature  of  the  spirit.  That  is,  it  has  gener- 
ative, spiritual  life.  It  is  not  simple  knowledge, 
it  is  knowledge  energized,  charged  with  potency. 
It  is  knowledge  into  which  the  poet  has  breathed 
the  breath  of  life.  The  difference  between  bare 
knowledge  and  the  literature  of  power  is  like  the 
difference  between  a  perfect  statue  in  stone  and  a 
living,  pulsing,  human  form. 

One  of  the  virtues  of  literature,  therefore,  is 
the  mental  stimulus,  the  joy,  the  awakening,  the 
intensity  of  thought  it  spontaneously  calls  forth. 
Text-books  are  usually  a  bore,  but  literature  is  a 
natural  resource  even  in  hours  of  weariness.  Who 
would  dream  of  enlivening  leisure  hours  or  vaca- 
tion rest  with  text-books  of  grammar,  or  arithme- 
tic, or  history,  or  science?  But  the  poet  soothes 
with  music,  solemn  or  gay,  according  to  our  choice. 
If  we  go  to  the  woods  or  lakes  to  escape  our 
friends,  we  take  one  of  the  masters  of  song  with 
us.  After  a  day  of  toil  and  j weariness,  we  can 
turn  to  Evangeline,  or  Lady  of  the  Lake,  or  Vis- 
ion of  Sir  Launfal,  and  soon  we  are  listening  to 

"The  murmuring  pines  and  the  hemlocks," 
or  the  echo  of  tjie  hupter's  horn. 


Reading.  69 

"The  deep-mouthed  blood-hound's  heavy  bay 
Resounded  up  the  rocky  "way, 
And  faint,  from  farther  distance  borne 
Were  heard  the  clanging  hoof  and  horn." 

At  a  time  when  we  are  not  fit  for  the  irksome 
and  perfunctory  preparation  of  text-book  lessons, 
we  are  still  capable  of  receiving"  abundant  enter- 
tainment or  hearty  inspiration  from  Warner's 
How  I  Killed  a  Bear,  or  Tennyson's  Enoch  Arden, 
or  Sleepy  Hollow.  Literature  is  recreation  in  its 
double  sense.  It  gives  rest  and  relief,  and  it 
builds  up. 

Teachers  should  shake  themselves  free  from 
the  conviction  that  severe  disciplinary  studies  are 
the  best  part  of  education.  They  have  their  well- 
merited  place.  But  there  are  higher  spiritual 
fountains  from  which  to  draw.  Read  the  lives  of 
Scott,  Macaulay,  Irving,  and  Hawthorne,  and  Em- 
erson, and  discover  that  the  things  we  do  with  the 
greatest  inward  spontaneity  and  pleasure  and  ease 
are  often  the  best. 

Literature,  both  in  prose  and  verse,  is  what 
the  teacher  needs,  because  our  best  authors  are 
our  best  teachers  in  their  method  of  handling  their 
subjects.  They  know  how  to  find  access  to  the 
reader's  mind  \>y  making  their  ideas  attractive, 
interesting,  and  beautiful.  They  seem  to  know 
how  to  sharpen  the  edge  of  truth,  to  render  it 
more  keen  and  incisive.  They  drive  truth  deeper 
so  that  it  remains  imbedded  in  the  life  and 


70  Special  Method. 

thought.  Let  a  poet  clothe  an  idea  with  strength 
and  wing1  it  with  fancy  and  it  will  find  its  way 
straight  to  the  heart.  First  of  all,  nearly  all  our 
classic  writers,  especially  those  we  use  in  the 
grades,  handle  their  subjects  from  the  concrete, 
graphic,  picturesque  side.  They  not  only  illus- 
trate abundantly  from  nature  and  real  things  in 
life;  they  nearly  always  individualize  and  per- 
sonify their  ideas.  Virtue  to  a  poet  is  nothing 
unless  it  is  impersonated.  A  true  poet  is  never 
abstract  or  dry  or  formal  in  his  treatment  of  a 
subject.  It  is  natural  for  a  literary  artist,  whether 
in  verse  or  prose,  to  create  pictures,  to  put  all  his 
ideas  into  life  forms  and  bring  them  close  to  the 
real  ones  in  nature.  Homer's  idea  of  wisdom  is 
Minerva,  war  is  Mars,  strength  is  Ajax,  skill 
and  prudence  are  Ulysses,  fidelity  is  Penelope. 
Dickens  does  not  talk  about  schoolmasters  in  gen- 
eral, but  of  Squeers.  Shakespeare's  idea  of  jeal- 
ousy is  not  a  definition,not  a  formula, but  Othello. 
Those  books  which  have  enthralled  the  world, 
like  Robinson  Crusoe,  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Gulli- 
ver's Travels,  Arabian  Nights,  Evangeline,  Ivan- 
hoe,  Merchant  of  Venice, — they  deal  with  no  form 
of  classified  or  generalized  knowledge;  they  give 
us  no  definitions,  they  are  scenes  from  real  life. 
They  stand  among  realities,  and  their  roots  are 
down  in  the  soil  of  things.  They  are  persons 
hemmed  in  by  the  close  environment  of  facts. 
This  realism,  this  objectifying  of  thought,  this 


Heading.  71 

living  form  of  knowledge  is  characteristic  of  all 
great  writers  in  prose  or  verse.  The  novelist,  the 
romancer,  the  poet,  the  orator,  and  even  the  essay- 
ist will  always  put  the  breath  of  reality  into  his 
work  by  an  infusion  of  concreteness,  of  graphic 
personification.  The  poet's  fancy,  building  out 
of  the  abundant  materials  of  sense  experience,  is 
what  gives  color  and  warmth  to  all  his  thoughts. 
Strong  writers  make  incessant  use  of  figures  of 
speech.  Their  thought  must  clothe  itself  with 
the  whole  panoply  of  imagery  and  graphic  rep- 
resentation in  order  to  be  efficient  in  the  warfare 
for  truth. 

What  a  lesson  for  the  teacher!  What  models 
upon  which  to  develop  his  style  of  thinking!  If 
the  teaching  profession  and  its  work  could  be 
weighed  in  the  balance,  the  scale  would  fall  on 
the  side  of  the  abstract  with  a  heavy  thud.  Not 
that  object-lessons  will  save  us.  They  only  parody 
the  truth.  For  the  object-lesson  as  a  separate 
thing  we  have  no  use  at  all.  But  to  ground  every 
idea  and  every  study  in  realism,  to  pass  up  stead- 
ily through  real  objects  and  experience  to  a  per- 
ception of  truths  which  have  wide  application,  to 
science — this  is  the  true  philosophy  of  teaching. 

The  classic  writers  lead  us  even  one  grand 
step  beyond  realism.  The  fancy  builds  better 
than  the  cold  reason.  It  adorns  and  ennobles 
thought  till  it  becomes  full-fledged  for  the  flight 
toward  the  ideal. 


72  Special  Method. 

As  the  poet,  standing-  by  the  sea-shore,  poll 
ders  the  life  that  has  been  in  the  now  empty  she'll 
washed  up  from  the  deep,  his  fancy  discovers  in 
the  shell  a  resemblance  to  human  life  and  destiny, 
and  he  cries: 
"  Build  thee  more  stetely  mansions,  O,  my  soul, 

As  the  swift  seasons  roll! 

Leave  thy  low-vaulted  past! 

Let  each  new  temple,  nobler  than  the  last, 

Shut  thee  from  heaven  with  a  dome  more  vast, 

Till  thou  at  length  art  free, 

Leaving  thine  outgrown  shell  by  life's  unresting  sea! 

Is  it  possible  that  one  could  fall  under  the 
sway  of  the  poets  and  prose  artists,  appropriate 
their  images  and  fruitful  style  of  thought,  be 
wrought  upon  by  their  fancies,  and  still  remain 
dull  and  lifeless  and  prosaic  in  the  classroom? 
No  wonder  that  true  literature  has  been  called 
the  literature  of  power,  as  distinguished  from  the 
literature  of  knowledge  (supplementary  readers, 
pure  science,  information  books,  etc.)  The  lives 
and  works  of  our  best  writers  contain  an  expan- 
sive spiritual  energy,  which,  working  into  the  mind 
of  a  teacher,  breaks  the  shell  of  mechanism  and 
formality.  The  artist  gives  bright  tints  and  colors 
to  ideas  which  would  otherwise  be  faded  and 
bleached. 

The  study  of  the  best  classic  literature  adapted 
to  children  in  each  age  is  a  fruitful  form  of  psy- 
chology and  child  study.  The  series  of  books 
selected  for  the  different  grades  is  supposed  to 


Heading.  73 

be  adapted  to  the  children  at  each  period.  The 
books  which  suit  the  temper  and  taste  of  children 
in  primary  grades  are  peculiar  in  quality  and  fit 
those  pupils  better  than  older  ones.  In  inter- 
mediate classes  the  boyhood  spirit,  which  delights 
in  myth,  physical  deeds  of  prowess,  etc.,  shows 
itself,  and  many  of  the  stories,  ballads,  and  longer 
poems  breathe  this  spirit.  In  grammar  grades 
the  expanding,  maturing  minds  of  children  leap 
forward  to  the  appreciation  of  more  complex 
and  extended  forms  of  literature  which  deal  with 
some  of  the  great  problems  of  life  more  seri- 
ously, as  Snow  Bound,  Evangeline,  Roger  de  Co- 
verly,  Merchant  of  Venice,  etc. 

Any  classic  product  which  is  suited  to  pupils 
of  the  common  school,  may  generally  be  used  in 
several  grades.  Hawthorne's  Wonder  Book,  for 
instance,  may  be  used  anywhere  from  the  third  to 
the  eighth  grade  by  a  skillful  teacher.  But  for 
us  the  important  question  is,  to  what  grade  of 
children  is  it  best  adapted?  Where  does  its  style 
of  thought  best  fit  the  temper  of  the  children? 
Children  in  the  eighth  grade  may  read  it  and  get 
pleasure  and  good  from  it,  but  it  does  not  come 
up  to  the  full  measure  of  their  needs.  Children  of 
the  third  grade  cannot  master  it  with  sufficient 
ease,  but  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  or  first 
part  of  the  fifth  grade  it  seems  to  exactly  suit  the 
wants,  that  is,  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  children, 
it  will  vary,  of  course,  in  different  schools  and 


74  Special  Method. 

classes.  Now,  it  is  a  problem  for  our  serious  con- 
sideration to  determine  what  classics  to  use  and 
just  where  each  classic  belongs,  within  reasonable 
limits.  Let  us  inquire  where  the  best  culture  effect 
can  be  realized  from  each  book  used,  where  it  is  cal- 
culated to  work  its  best  and  strongest  influence. 
To  accomplish  this  result  it  is  necessary  to  study 
equally  the  temper  of  the  children  and  the  quality 
of  the  books,  to  seek  the  proper  food  for  the  grow- 
ing mind  at  its  different  stages.  This  is  not  chiefly 
a  matter  of  simplicity  or  complexity  of  language. 
Our  readers  are  largely  graded  by  the  difficulty  of 
language.  But  literature  should  be  distributed 
through  the  school  grades  according  to  its  power 
to  arouse  thought  and  interest.  Language  will 
have  to  be  regarded,  but  as  secondary.  Look  first 
to  the  thought-material  which  is  to  engage  child- 
ren's minds,  and  then  force  the  language  into  sub- 
servience to  that  end.  The  final  test  to  determine 
the  place  of  a  classic  in  the  school  course  must  be 
the  experiment  of  the  class-room.  We  may  exer- 
cise our  best  judgment  beforehand,  and  later  find 
that  a  classic  belongs  one  or  two  grades  higher  or 
lower  than  we  thought. 

We  really  need  some  comprehensive  principle 
upon  which  to  make  the  selection  of  classics  as 
adapted  to  the  nature  (psychology)  of  children. 
The  theory  of  the  culture  epochs  of  race  history*  as 
parallel  to  child-development  offers  at  least  a 
suggestion.  A  few  of  the  great  periods  of  history 


MeadinQ.  75 

seem  to  correspond  fairly  well  to  certain  epochs 
of  child  growth.  The  age  of  folk-lore  and  the 
fairy  tale  is  often  called  the  childhood  of  the 
race;  the  predominance  of  the  imagination  and  of 
the  childlike  interpretation  of  things  in  nature 
reminds  us  strikingly  of  the  fancies  of  children. 
We  find  also  that  the  literary  remains  of  this 
epoch  in  the  world's  history,  the  fairy  tales,  are 
the  peculiar  delight  of  children  from  four  to  six. 
In  like  manner  the  heroic  age  and  its  literary 
products  seem  to  fascinate  the  children  of  nine  to 
eleven  years.  In  connection  with  this  theory  it 
is  observed  that  the  greatest  poets  of  the  world 
in  different  countries  are  those  who  have  given 
poetic  form  and  expression  to  the  typical  ideas 
and  characters  of  some  epoch  of  history.  So 
Homer,  Virgil,  Dante,  Milton,  Scott.  The  best 
literature  is  much  of  it  the  precipitate  of  the 
thought  and  life  of  historical  epochs  in  race  de- 
velopment. Experiment  has  shown  that  much  of 
this  literature  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  exert  strong 
culture  influence  upon  children.  The  literary  her- 
itage of  the  chief  culture  epochs  is  destined  there- 
fore to  enter  as  a  powerful  agent  in  the  education 
of  children  in  our  schools,  and  the  place  of  a  piece 
of  literature  in  history  suggests  at  least  its  place 
in  child  culture. 

The  study  of  these  literary  masterpieces,  the 
choicest  of  the  world,  while  it  offers  a  broad  per- 
spective of  history,  also  enters  deep  into  the  psy- 


76  Special  Method. 

chology  of  children  and  their  periods  of  growth 
and  change.  What  a  study  for  the  teacher! 

Suppose  now  that  a  wise  selection  of  the  best 
classics  for  school  use  had  been  made.  The  books 
for  each  grade  would  respond  not  only  to  the 
ability  but  to  the  characteristic  temper  and  men- 
tal status  of  children  at  that  age.  The  books 
would  arouse  the  full  compass  of  the  children's 
mental  power,  their  emotional  as  well  as  intellec- 
tual capacities,  their  sympathy,  interest,  and 
feeling.  The  teacher  who  is  about  to  undertake 
the  training-  of  these  children  may  not  know  much 
about  children  of  that  age.  How  can  she  best  put 
herself  into  an  attitude  by  which  she  can  meet 
and  understand  the  children  on  their  own  ground? 
Not  simply  their  intellectual  ability  and  stand- 
ing, but,  better  still,  their  impulses  and  sym- 
pathies, their  motives  and  hearts.  Most  people 
as  they  reach  maturity  and  advance  in  years  have 
a  tendency  to  grow  away  from  their  childhood. 
Their  purposes  have  changed  from  those  of  child- 
hood to  those  of  mature  life.  They  are  no  longer 
interested  in  the  things  that  interest  children. 
They  seem  trivial  and  even  incomprehensible. 

Now  the  person  who  is  preparing  to  be  a 
teacher  should  grow  back  into  his  childhood. 
Without  losing  the  dignity  or  purpose  of  mature 
life,  he  should  allow  the  memories  and  sympathies 
of  childhood  to  revive.  The  insight  which  comes 
from  companionship  and  sympathy  with  children 


Reading.  77 

he  needs  in  order  to  guide  them  with  tact  and 
wisdom. 

The  literature  which  belongs  to  any  age  of 
childhood  is  perhaps  the  best  key  to  the  spirit 
and  disposition  of  that  period.  The  fact  that  it  is 
classic  makes  it  a  fit  instrument  with  which  the 
teacher  may  re-awaken  the  dormant  experiences 
and  memories  of  that  period  in  his  own  life.  The 
teacher  who  finds  it  impossible  to  re-awaken  his  in- 
terest in  the  literature  that  goes  home  to  the  hearts 
of  children  has  prima  facie  evidence  that  he  is  not 
qualified  to  stimulate  and  guide  their  mental 
movements.  The  human  element  in  letters  is  the 
source  of  its  deep  and  lasting  power;  the  human 
element  in  children  is  the  center  of  their  educative 
life  and  he  who  disregards  this  and  thinks  only  of 
intellectual  exercises  is  a  poor  machine.  .The  lit- 
erature which  children  appreciate  and  love  is  the 
key  to  their  soul  life.  It  has  power  to  stimulate 
teacher  and  pupil  alike  and  is  therefore  a  common 
ground  where  they  may  both  stand  and  look  into 
each  other's  faces  with  sympathy. 

This  is  not  so  much  the  statement  of  a  theory 
as  a  direct  inference  from  many  observations.  It 
has  been  observed  repeatedly  in  different  schools 
under  many  teachers,  that  The  Lady  of  the  Lake, 
Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,  Sleepy  Hollow,  or  Merchant 
of  Venice,  have  had  an  astonishing  power  to  bring 
teacher  and  children  into  near  and  cherished  com- 
panionship. It  is  not  possible  to  express  the  pro- 


78  Special  Method. 

found  lessons  of  life  that  children  get  from  the 
poets.  In  the  prelude  to  Whittier's  Among-  the 
Hills,  what  a  picture  is  drawn  of  the  coarse,  hard 
lot  of  parents  and  children  in  an  ungarnished 
home,  "so  pinched  and  bare  and  comfortless," 
while  the  poem  itself,  a  view  of  that  home  among 
the  hills  which  thrift  and  taste  and  love  have 
made, 

"Invites  the  eye  to  see  and  heart  to  feel 

The  beauty  and  the  joy  within  their  reach; 

Home  and  home  loves  and  the  beatitudes 

Of  nature  free  to  all." 

To  study  such  poetry  in  its  effect  upon  children 
is  a  monopoly  of  the  rich  educational  opportunity 
which  falls  naturally  into  the  hands  of  teachers. 
Psychology,  as  derived  from  text- books,  is  apt  to 
be  cold  and  formal;  that  which  springs  from  the 
contact  of  young  minds  with  the  fountains  of  song 
lives  and  breathes.  If  a  teacher  desires  to  fit  her- 
self for  primary  instruction  she  can  do  nothing  so 
well  calculated  to  bring  herself  en  rapport  with 
little  children  as  to  read  the  nursery  rhymes,  the 
fairy  tales,  fables,  and  early  myths.  They  bring 
her  along  a  charming  road  into  the  realm  of  child- 
like fancies  and  sympathies  which  were  almost 
faded  from  her  memory.  The  same  door  is  opened 
through  well  selected  literature  to  the  hearts  of 
children  in  intermediate  and  grammar  grades. 

A  brief  retrospect  will  show  the  profitableness 
of  classics  to  the  teacher.  They  show  a  deep  per- 


Reading.  79 

spective  into  the  spirit  and  inner  workings  of  his- 
tory. The  social  life  and  insight  developed  by 
the  study  of  literature  give  tact  and  judgment  to 
understand  and  respect  the  many-sided  individu- 
alities found  in  every  school.  The  teacher's  own 
moral  and  esthetic  and  religious  ideals  are  con- 
stantly lifted  and  strengthened  by  the  study  of 
classics.  Such  reading  is  a  recreation  and  relief 
even  in  hours  of  weariness  and  solitude.  It  is  an 
expansive  spiritual  power  rather  than  a  burden. 
Literary  artists  are  also  a  standing  illustration  of 
the  graphic,  spirited  manner  of  handling  subjects. 
Finally,  this  rich  and  varied  realm  of  classic 
thought  and  expression  is  the  doorway  by  which 
we  enter  again  into  the  moods  and  impulses  and 
fancies  of  childhood.  We  thus  revive  our  own 
youth  and  fit  ourselves  for  a  quick  and  apprecia- 
tive perception  of  children's  needs.  It  is  the  best 
kind  of  child- study. 


80  Special  Method. 


CHAPTER  V. 
Method  in  Primary  Grades. 

The  first  requisite  to  good  reading-  is  something 
worth  reading,  something  valuable  and  interesting 
to  the  children,  and  adapted  to  their  minds.  We 
must  take  it  for  granted  in  this  discussion  that 
the  best  literature  and  the  best  stories  have  been 
selected,  and  what  the  teacher  has  to  do  is,  first, 
to  appreciate  these  masterpieces  for  herself,  and 
second,  to  bring  the  children  in  the  reading  les- 
sons to  appreciate  and  enjoy  them.  In  the  pri- 
mary grades  we  are  not  so  richly  supplied  with 
choice  materials  from  good  literature  as  in  inter- 
mediate and  grammar  grades.  For  several  years, 
however,  primary  teachers  have  been  selecting 
and  adapting  the  best  stgries,  and  some  of  the 
leading  publishers  have  ^Brought  out  in  choice 
school-book  form,  books  which  are  well  adapted 
to  the  reading  of  primary  grades. 

We  should  like  to  assume  one  other  advantage. 
If  children  have  been  treated  orally  to  Robinson 
Crusoe  in  the  second  grade,  they  will  appreciate 
and  read  the  story  much  better  in  the  third  grade. 
If  some  of  Grimm's  stories  are  told  in  first  grade, 
they  can  be  read  with  ease  in  the  second  grade. 
The  teacher's  oral  presentation  of  the  stories  is 


Heading.  8] 

the  rig-he  way  to  bring-  them  close  to  the  life  and 
interest  of  children.  In  the  first  grade  it  is  the 
only  way,  because  the  children  can  not  yet  read. 
But  even  if  they  could  read,  the  oral  treatment  is 
much  better.  The  oral  presentation  is  more  lively, 
natural,  and  realistic.  The  teacher  can  adapt  the 
story  and  the  language  to  the  immediate  needs  of 
the  class  as  no  author  can.  She  can  question,  or 
suggest  lines  of  thought,  or  call  up  ideas  from  the 
children's  experience.  The  oral  manner  is  the 
true  way  to  let  the  children  delve  into  the  rich 
culture-content  of  stories  and  to  awaken  a  taste 
for  their  beauty  and  truth.  We  could  well  wish 
that  before  children  read  mythical  stories  in 
fourth  grade,  they  had  been  stirred  up  to  enjoy 
them  by  oral  narration  and  discussion  in  the  pre- 
ceding year.  In  the  same  way,  if  the  reading 
bears  on  interesting-  science  topics  previously 
studied,  it  will  be  a  distinct  advantage  to  the 
reading  lesson.  Children  like  to  read  about 
things  that  have  prevlbusly  excited  their  inter- 
est, whether  in  story  or  science.  The  difficulties 
of  formal  reading  will  also  be  partly  overcome  by 
familiarity  with  the  harder  names  and  words.  Our 
conclusion  is  that  reading  lessons,  alone,  can  not 
provide  all  the  conditions  favorable  to  good  read- 
ing. Some  of  these  can  be  well  supplied  by  other 
studies  or  by  preliminary  lessons  which  pave  the 
way  for  the  reading  proper. 


Special  Method'. 

FOLK-LORE  STORIES  AS  READING   EXERCISES   FOR 
FIRST   GRADE. 

Let  it  be  supposed  that  a  class  of  first-grade 
children  has  learned  to  tell  a  certain  story  orally. 
It  has  interested  them  and  stirred  up  their 
thought. 

Let  them  next  learn  to  read  the  same  story  in 
a  very  simple  form.  This  will  lead  to  a  series  of 
elementary  reading  lessons  in  connection  with  the 
story,  and  the  aim  should  be  strictly  that  of  mas- 
tering the  first  difficulties  of  reading.  The  teacher 
recalls  the  story,  and  asks  for  a  statement  from 
its  beginning.  If  the  sentence  furnished  by  the 
child  is  simple  and  suitable,  the  teacher  writes  it 
on  the  blackboard  in  plain  large  script,  and  it  is 
then  made  the  basis  of  an  analytic  study.  Each 
child  reads  it  through  and  points  out  the  words. 
Let  there  be  a  lively  drill  upon  the  sentence  till 
the  picture  of  each  word  becomes  clear  and  dis- 
tinct. During  the  first  lesson,  two  or  three  short 
sentences  can  be  handled  with  success.  As  new 
words  are  learned,  they  should  be  mixed  up  on 
the  board  with  those  learned  before,  and  a  quick 
and  varied  drill  on  the  words  in  sentences  or  in 
columns  be  employed  to  establish  the  forms  in 
memory.  Speed,  variety  in  device,  and  watch- 
fulness to  keep  all  busy  and  attentive,,  are  neces- 
sary to  secure  good  results. 

One  or  two  of  the  simpler  words  in  a  lesson 
may  be  taken  for  phonetic  analysis.  The  simple 


sounds  are  practiced  upon  and  associated  with  the 
letters  that  represent  them.  These  familiar  let- 
ters are  later  met  and  identified  in  new  words, 
and,  as  soon  as  a  number  of  sounds  with  their 
symbols  has  been  learned,  new  words  can  be  con 
structed  and  pronounced  from  these  known  ele- 
ments. 

In  the  same  way,  they  recognize  old  words  in 
sentences  and  new  or  changed  combinations  of 
old  forms,  and  begin  to  read  new  sentences  which 
combine  old  words  in  new  relations. 

In  short,  the  sentence,  word,  and  phonic  meth- 
ods are  all  used  in  fitting  alternation,  while  orig- 
inality and  variety  of  device  are  necessary  in  the 
best  exercise  of  teaching  power. 

The  processes  of  learning  to  read  by  such  board- 
script  work  are  partly  analjrtic  and  partly  syn- 
thetic. Children  begin  with  sentences,  analyze 
them  into  words,  and  some  of  the  words  into  their 
simple  sounds.  But  when  these  sounds  begin  to 
grow  familiar,  they  are  identified  again  in  other 
words,  thus  combining  them  into  new  forms.  In 
the  same  way,  words  once  learned  by  the  ana- 
lytic study  of  sentences  are  recognized  again  in 
new  sentences,  and  thus  interpreted  in  new  rela- 
tions. 

The  short  sentences,  derived  from  a  familiar 
story,  when  ranged  together  supply  a  brief,  sim- 
ple outline  of  the  story.  If  now  this  series  of  sen- 
tences be  written  on  the  board  or  printed  on  slips 


S4  Special  Method. 

of  paper,  the  whole  story  may  be  reviewed  by  the 
class  from  day  to  day  till  the  word  and  sentence- 
forms  are  well  mastered.  For  making-  these 
printed  slips,  some  teachers  use  a  small  printing- 
press  or  a  type-writer.  Eventually  several  sto- 
ries may  be  collected  and  sewed  together,  so  as  to 
form  a  little  reading  book  which  is  the  result  of 
the  constructive  work  of  teacher  and  pupils. 

The  reading  lessonsjust  described, are  entirely 
separate  from  the  oral  treatment  and  reproduc- 
tion of  the  stories;  yet  the  thought  and  interest 
awakened  in  the  oral  work  are  helpful  in  keeping- 
up  a  lively  effort  in  the  reading  class.  The  thought 
material  in  a  good  story  is  itself  a  mental  stimu- 
lus, and  produces  a  wakefulness  which  is  favora- 
ble to  imprinting  the  forms  as  well  as  the  content 
of  thought.  Expression,  also,  that  is,  natural  and 
vivid  rendering  of  the  thought,  is  always  aimed  at 
in  reading,  and  springs  spontaneously  from  in- 
teresting thought-studies. 

Many  teachers  use  the  materials  furnished  by 
oral  lessons  in  natural  science  as  a  similar  intro- 
duction to  reading  in  first  grade.  The  science  les- 
sons furnish  good  thought-matter  for  simple  sen- 
tences, and  there  is  no  good  reason  why,  in  learn- 
ing to  read,  children  should  not  use  sentences 
drawn  both  from  literature  and  from  natural  sci- 
ence. 


-8 


READING   IN   THE   SECOND   GRADE. 


The  oral  lessons  in  good  stories,  and  the  later 
board  use  of  these  materials  in  learning1  the  ele- 
ments of  formal  reading,  are  an  excellent  prepa- 
ration for  the  fuller  and  more  extended  reading  of 
similar  matter  in  the  second  and  third  grades. 

When  the  oral  work  of  the  first  grade  has  thus 
kindled  the  fancy  of  a  child  upon  these  charming 
pictures,  and  the  later  board-  work  has  acquainted 
him  with  letter  and  word  symbols  which  express 
such  thought,  the  reading  of  the  same  and  other 
stories  of  like  character  (a  year  later)  will  follow 
as  an  easy  and  natural  sequence.  As  a  prelimin- 
ary to  all  good  reading  exercises,  there  should  be 
rich  and  fruitful  thought  adapted  to  the  age  of 
children.  The  realm  of  classic  folk-lore  contains 
abundant  thought-material  peculiar  in  its  fitness 
to  awaken  the  interest  and  fancy  of  children  in 
the  first  two  grades.  To  bring  these  choice  sto- 
ries close  to  the  hearts  of  children  should  be  the 
aim  of  much  of  the  work  in  both  these  grades. 
Such  an  aim,  skillfully  carried  out,  not  only  con- 
duces to  the  joy  of  children  in  first  grade,  but  in- 
fuses the  reading  lessons  of  second  grade  with 
thought  and  culture  of  the  best  quality. 

Interest  and  vigor  of  thought  are  certain  to 
help  right  expression  and  reading.  Reading,  like 
every  other  study,  should  be  based  upon  realities. 
When  there  is  real  thought  and  feeling  in  the 
children,  a  correct  expression  of  them  is  more 


8(5.  Special  Method. 

easily  secured  than  by  formal  demands  or  by  in- 
timidation. 

The  stories  to  be  read  in  second  or  third  grade 
may  be  fuller  and  longer  than  the  brief  outline 
sentences  used  for  bdard-work  in  the  first  grade. 
Besides,  these  tales,  being  classic  and  of  perma- 
nent value,  do  not  lose  their  charm  by  repetition. 

METHOD. 

By  oral  reading,  we  mean  /the  giving  of  the 
thought  obtained  from  a  printed  page  to  others 
through  the  medium  of  the  voice. 

There  is  first  the  training  of  the  eye  in  taking 
in  a  number  of  words  at  a  glance — a  mechanical 
process;  then  the  interpretation  of  these  groups 
of  words — a  mental  process;  next  the  making 
known  of  the  ideas  thus  obtained,  to  others,  by 
means  of  the  voice — also  a  mechanical  process. 

The  children  need  special  help  in  each  step. 
We  are  apt  to  overdo  one  at  the  expense  of  the 
others. 

1.  Eye -training  is  the  foundation  of  all  good 
reading.  Various  devices  are  resorted  to  in  ob- 
taining it.  We  will  suggest  a  few,  not  new  at  all, 
but  useful. 

(a)  A  strip  of  cardboard  on  which  is  a  clause 
or  sentence  is  held  before  the  class,  for  a  moment 
only,  and  then  removed.  The  children  are  asked 
to  give  it  verbatim.  The  length  of  the  task  is  in- 
creased as  the  eye  becomes  trained  to  this  kind  of 
work. 


87 

(b)  The  children  open  their  books  at  a  signal 
from  the  teacher,  glance  through  a  line,  or  part  of 
one — indicated  by  the  teacher,  close  book  at  once 
and  give  the  line. 

(c)  The  teacher  places  on-  the  board  clauses  or 
sentences  bearing  on  the  lesson,  and  covers  with 
a  map.  The  map  is  rolled  up  to  show  one  of  these, 
which  is  almost  immediately  erased.     The  chil- 
dren are  then  asked  to  give  it.     The  map  is  then 
rolled  up  higher,  exposing  another,  which  also  is 
speedily  erased — and  so  on  until  all  have  been 
given  to  the  children  and  erased. 

2.  The  child  needs  not  only  to  be  able  to  recog- 
nize groups  of  words,  but  he  must  be  able  to  get 
thought  from  them.  The  following  are  some  de- 
vices to  that  end: 

(a)  Suggestive  pictures  can  be  made  use  of  to 
advantage,  all  through  the  primary  grades.     If 
the  child  reads  part  of  the  story  in  the  picture, 
and  finds  it  interesting,  he  will  want  to  read  from 
the  printed  page,  the  part  not  given  in  the  pic- 
ture. 

(b)  Where  there  is  no  picture — or  even  where 
there  is  one — an  aim  may  be  useful  to  arouse  in- 
terest in  the  thought,  i.  e. ,  a  thoughtful  question 
may  be  put  by  the  teacher,  which  the  children 
can  answer  only  by  reading  the  story;  e.  g.,  in  the 
supplementary  reader,    "Easy  Steps  for  Little 
Feet, "  is  found  the  story  of   "The  Pin  and  Isiee- 
dle."    There  is  no  picture.     The  teacher  says  as 


88  Special  Method. 

the  class  are  seated,  "  Now  we  have  a  story  about 
a  big  quarrel  between  a  pin  and  a  needle  over  the 
question,  'Which  one  is  the  better  fellow?'  Of 
what  could  the  needle  boast?  Of  what  the  pin? 
Let  us  see  which  won. " 

(c)  Let  all  the  pupils  look  through  one  or  more 
paragraphs,  reading  silently,  to  get  the  thought, 
before  any  one  is  called  upon  to  read  aloud.  If  a 
child  comes  to  a  word  that  he  does  not  know,  dur- 
ing the  silent  reading,  the  teacher  helps  him  to  get 
it  —  from  the  context  if  possible  —  if  not,  by  the 
sounds  of  the  letters  which  compose  it. 

As  each  child  finishes  the  task  assigned,  he 
raises  his  eyes  from  the  book,  showing  by  this 
act  that  he  is  ready  to  tell  what  he  has  just  read. 
The  thought  may  be  given  by  the  child  in  his  own 
language  to  assure  the  teacher  that  he  has  it. 
Usually,  however,  in  the  lower  grades,  this  is  un- 
necessary, the  language  of  the  book  being  nearly 
as  simple  as  his  own. 

The  advantage  of  having  all  the  pupils  kept 
busy  instead  of  one  alone  who  might  be  called 
upon  to  read  the  paragraph,  is  evident.  Ever;/ 
child  reads  silently  all  of  the  lesson.  Time  would 
not  permit  that  this  be  done  orally,  were  it  advis- 
able to  do  so.  When  the  child  gets  up  to  read,  he 
is  not  likely  to  stumble,  for  he  has  both  the  thought 
and  the  expression  for  it,  at  the  start. 

While  aiming  to  have  the  children  compre- 
hend the  thought,  the  teacher  should  not  forget, 


89 

on  the  other  hand,  that  this  is  the  reading  hour, 
and  not  the  time  for  much  oral  instruction  and  re- 
production. There  are  other  recitations  in  which 
the  child  is  trained  to  free  oral  expression  of 
thought,  as  in  science  and  literature.  Such  off- 
hand oral  expression  of  his  own  ideas  is  not  the 
primary  aim  of  the  reading  lesson.  Its  purpose 
is  to  lend  life  to  the  recitation. 

3.  Steps  1  and  2  deal  with  preparation  for  the 
reading.  Up  to  this  time,  no  oral  reading  has 
been  done.  Now  we  are  ready  to  begin.  v 

Children  will  generally  express  the  thought 
with  the  proper  emphasis  if  they  not  only  see  its 
meaning  but  also  feel  it.  Suppose  the  children 
are  interested  in  the  thought  of  the  piece,  they 
still  fail,  sometimes,  to  give  the  proper  emphasis. 
How  can  the  teacher  by  questioning,  get  them  to 
realize  the  more  important  part  of  the  thought? 

(a)  The  teacher  has  gone  deeper  into  the  mean- 
ing than  have  the  children.  Her  questions  should 
be  such  as  to  make  real  to  the  children  the  more 
emphatic  part  of  the  thought;  e.  g.,  in  the  River- 
side Primer  we  have,  "Poor  Bun,  good  dog,  did 
you  think  I  meant  to  hit  you?"  John  reads,  "Do 
you  think  I  meant  to  hit  you?"  The  teacher  says, 
"You  may  be  Bun,  John.  What  is  it  that  you  do 
not  want  Bun  to  think?"  ("That  I  meant  to  hit 
him.")  "But  you  did  mean  to  hit  something. 
What  was  it  you  did  not  mean  to  hit?  Tell  Bun." 
("I  did  not  mean  to  hit  you.")  Now  ask  him  if  he 


90  Special  Method. 

thought  that  you  did."    ("Did  you  think  I  meant 
to  hit  you?'') 

(b)  When  the  story  is  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue, 
the  children  may  personate  the  characters  in  the 
story.    Thus,  getting  into  the  real  spirit  of  the 
piece,  their  emphasis  will  naturally  fall  where  it 
properly  belongs. 

(c)  Sometimes  the  teacher  will  find  it  necessary 
to  show  the  child  how  to  read  a  passage  properly, 
by  reading  it  himself.    It  is  seldom  best  to  do  this 
—certainly  not  if  the  correct  expression  can  be 
reached  through  questioning. 

Many  a  teacher  makes  a  practice  of  giving  the 
proper  emphasis  to  the  child,  he  copying  it  from 
her  voice.  Frequently,  children  taught  in  this 
way,  can  read  one  piece  after  another  in  their 
readers  with  excellent  expression,  but  when  ques- 
tioned, show  that  their  minds  are  a  blank  as  to 
the  meaning  of  what  they  are  reading. 

In  working  for  expression,  a  great  many  teach- 
ers waste  the  time  and  energy  of  the  pupils  by  in- 
definite directions.  The  emphasis  is  not  correctly 
placed,  so  the  teacher  says,  "I  do  not  like  that; 
try  it  again,  May."  Now,  May  has  no  idea  in 
what  particular  point  she  has  failed,  so  she  gives 
it  again,  very  likely  as  she  gave  it  before,  or  she 
may  put  the  emphasis  on  some  other  word,  hop- 
ing by  so  doing  to  please  the  teacher.  ' '  Why,  no, 
May,  yo.u  surely  can  do  better  than  that,"  says 
the  teacher.  So  May  makes  another  fruitless  at 
tempt,  when  the  teacher,  disgusted,  calls  on  an- 


Heading. 

other  pupil  to  show  her  how  to  read.  May  has 
gained  no  clearer  insight  into  the  thought  than 
she  started  out  with,  no  power  to  grapple  more 
successfully  with  a  similar  difficulty  another  time, 
and  has  lost,  partly,  at  least — her  interest  in  the 
piece.  She  has  been  bothered  and  discouraged, 
and  the  class  wearied. 

Sometimes  when  the "  expression  is  otherwise 
good,  the  children  pitch  their  voices  too  high  or 
too  low.  Natural  tones  must  be  insisted  upon. 
A  good  aid  to  the  children  in  this  respect  is  the  ha- 
bitual example  of  quiet,  clear  tones  in  the  teacher. 

Another  fault,  of  otherwise  good  reading,  is  a 
failure  to  enunciate  distinctly.  Children  are  in- 
clined to  slight  many  sounds,  especially  at  the 
end  of  the  words,  and  the  teacher  is  apt  to  think, 
"That  doesn't  make  so  very  much  difference,  since 
they  are  only  children.  When  they  get  older  they 
will  see  that  their  pronunciation  is  babyish,  and 
adopt  a  correct  form."  This  is  unsound  reasoning. 
Every  time  the  child  says  las  for  last  he  is  estab- 
lishing more  firmly  a  habit,  which,  if  he  overcomes, 
it  will  be  with  much  difficulty. 

In  the  pronunciation  of  words  as  well  as  in 
the  reading  of  a  sentence,  much  time  is  wasted 
through  failure  to  point  out  the  exact  word,  and 
the  syllable  in  the  word,  in  which  the  mistake  has 
been  made.  The  child  cannot  improve  unless  he 
knows  in  what  particular  there  is  room  for  im- 
provement.* 

NOTE.— Much  of  the  above  treatment  of  primary  reading  is  taken 
from  an  article  in  the  Public-School  Journal,  by  Mrs.  Lida  B.  McMurrv 


92  Special  Method. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Class-room,'  Method  in  Reading. 

1.  The  doorway. 

There  is  a  strong  comfort  in  the  idea  that  in 
the  preparation  of  a  masterpiece  for  a  reading 
class  the  teacher  may  be  dealing  with  a  unity  of 
thought  in  a  variety  of  relations  that  makes  the 
study  a  comprehensive  culture-product  both  to 
herself  and  to  the  children.  To  become  a  student 
of  Hiawatha  as  a  whole  and  in  its  relations  to  In- 
dian life  and  tradition,  early  aboriginal  history, 
and  Longfellow's  connection  with  the  same,  is  to 
throw  a  deep  glance  into  history  and  anthropol- 
ogy and  to  recognize  literature  as  the  permanent 
form  of  expressing  their  best  spirit.  There  are  a 
good  many  side-lights  that  a  teacher  needs  to  get 
from  history  and  other  literature  in  order  to  see 
a  literary  masterpiece  in  its  true  setting.  It  is 
the  part  of  the  poet  to  make  his  work  intensely 
real  and  ideal,  the  two  elements  that  appeal  with 
trenchant  force  to  children.  The  teacher  needs 
not  only  to  see  the  graphic  pictures  drawn  by  the 
artist,  but  to  gather  about  these  central  points 
of  view  other  collateral,  explanatory  facts  that 
give  a  deeper  setting  to  the  picture.  Fortu- 
nately, such  study  as  this  is  not  burdensome. 


<).'{ 

There  is  a  joyousness  and  sparkle  to  it  that  can 
relieve  many  an  hour  of  tedium.  Literature  in 
its  best  forms  is  recreation  and  brings  an  infusion 
of  spiritual  energy.  We  should  not  allow  our- 
selves to  confuse  it  with  those  more  humdrum 
forms  of  school  employment,  like  spelling,  figur- 
ing, reading  in  the  formal  sense,  grammar,  writ- 
ing, etc.  Literature  is  the  spiritual  side  of  school 
effort,  the  uplands  of  thought,  where  gushing 
springs  well  from  the  roots  and  shade  of  over- 
arching trees.  There  is  jollity  and  music,  beauty 
and  grandeur,  the  freshness  of  cool  breezes  and 
of  mountain  scenery  in  such  profusion  as  to  sat- 
isfy the  exuberance  of  youthful  spirit,  and  to  in- 
fuse new  energy  into  old  and  tired  natures.  If 
the  teacher  can  only  get  out  of  the  narrow  streets 
of  the  town  and  from  between  the  dead  walls  of 
the  schoolroom,  up  among  the  meadows  and 
groves  and  brooks,  in  company  with  Bryant  or 
Longfellow  or  Whittier,  if  she  can  only  take  a 
draft  of  these  spirit-waters  before  walking  into 
the  schoolroom,  her  thought  and  conduct  will  be 
tempered  into  a  fit  instrument  of  culture. 

The  teacher's  preparation  is  not  only  in  the  in- 
vftellectual  grasp  of  the  thought,  but  in  the  sympa- 
thy, feeling,  and  pleasure  germane  to  a  classic. 
The  esthetic  and  emotional  elements,  the  charm  of 
poetry  and  the  sparkle  of  wit  and  glint  of  literary 
elegance  and  aptness,  are  what  give  relish  and 
delight  to  true  literary  products.  Literature  ap- 


94  tip«-i<il  Method. 


peals  to  the  whole  nature  and  not  to  the  intellect 
alone.  It  is  not  superficial  and  formal,  but  deep 
and  spiritual.  The  teacher  who  reads  a  classic 
like  Marmion,  thoughtfully  dwelling  upon  the  his- 
toric pictures,  calling"  to  mind  other  of  Scott's 
stories  and  the  earlier  struggle  between  Scotland 
and  England,  is  drinking  at  the  fresh  fountains 
and  sources  of  some  of  the  best  parts  of  European 
history.  The  clear  and  rock-rimmed  lakes  of 
Scotland,  her  rugged  mountains  and  ruined  castle 
walls,  are  not  more  delightful  to  the  traveler  than 
the  pictures  of  life  and  history  that  appear  in 
Tales  of  a  Grandfather,  Rob  Roy,  Marmion,  and 
Lady  of  the  Lake.  To  paint  these  stirring  pan- 
oramic views  of  Scotch  adventure  and  prowess 
upon  the  imagination  of  the  young  is  to  invigorate 
their  thought  with  the  real  sentiment  of  patriot- 
ism, and  with  appreciation  for  manly  struggle, 
endurance,  and  spirit.  The  vivid  insight  it  gives 
into  feudal  society  in  church  and  court  and  castle, 
on  battlefield,  and  in  dining  hall,  among  the  rude 
peasantry  and  the  unlettered  nobility  was  found 
more  life-like  and  lasting  than  the  usual  results 
of  historical  study. 

The  moment  we  take  a  longer  masterpiece 
and  examine  it  as  a  representative  piece  of  human 
life,  or  as  a  typical  portraiture  of  an  historical 
epoch,  it  becomes  the  converging  point  for  much 
lively  and  suggestive  knowledge,  deep  and  strong1 
social  interests  and  convincing  personification  of 
moral  impulses. 


The  best  preparation,  therefore,  a  teacher  can 
make  for  a  class  is  a  spiritual  and  spirited  one. 
At  first  the  linguistic,  formal,  verbal  mastery  of 
literature,  its  critical  examination,  even  its  elocu- 
tion, should  remain  in  the  background  both  for 
teacher  and  children.  Let  the  direct  impress  of 
the  thought,  motive  and  emotion  of  the  characters 
be  unimpeded;  give  the  author  a  chance  to  speak 
direct  to  the  hearts  of  the  children  and  the  ave- 
nue toward  the  desired  results  in  formal  reading 
will  be  left  wide  open. 

We  would  not  deny  that  a  certain  labor  is  re- 
quired of  the  teacher  in  such  preparation.  But, 
in  the  main,  it  is  a  refreshing  kind  of  labor.  If  it 
brings  a  feeling  of  weariness,  it  is  the  kind  that 
conduces  to  sound  and  healthy  sleep.  It  invokes 
a  feeling  of  inward  power  and  of  accumulated 
rich  resource  that  helps  us  to  meet  with  confi- 
dence the  emergencies  and  opportunities  of  in- 
struction. 

A2.  In  the  assignment  of  the  lesson  the  teacher 
has  a  chance  to  give  the  children  a  glimpse  of  the 
pleasure  that  awaits  them,  and  to  catch  a  little 
of  the  enthusiasm  which  her  own  study  has  awak- 
ened. This  should  be  done  briefly  and  by  signifi- 
cant suggestion.  In  first  introducing  a  longer 
work  it  wTill  pay  to  occupy  more  time  than  is 
usual  in  recitations  in  opening  up  the  new  subject; 
if  it  is  historical,  in  locating  the  time,  circumstan- 
ces, and  geographical  setting.  The  chief  aim  of 


Metlwd. 

the  assignment  should  be  to  awaken  curiosity  and 
interest  which  may  be  strong-  enough  to  lead  to  a 
full  and  appreciative  study  of  the  lesson.  A  sec- 
ond aim  of  the  assignment  is  to  pave  the  way  to 
an  easier  mastery  of  verbal  difficulties  that  arise, 
such  as  new  and  difficult  words,  obscure  or  in- 
volved passages.  The  first  aim  is  a  substantial 
and  fruitful  one.  It  approaches  the  whole  read- 
ing lesson  from  the  side  of  interest  and  spirit.  It 
seeks  to  plant  direct  incentives  and  suggestions 
deep  enough  in  the  mind  to  start  effort.  The  as- 
signment should  take  it  for  granted  that  natural 
interest  and  absorption  in  the  thought  will  lead 
directly  to  that  kind  of  vigorous  effort  and  mas- 
tery that  will  secure  natural  and  expressive  oral 
reading.  Look  well  to  the  deeper  springs  of 
thought  and  action  and  the  formal  reading  will 
open  just  the  avenue  needed  to  realize  good  ex- 
pression. 

Skill,  originality,  and  teaching  art  are  much 
needed  in  the  assignment.  It  is  not  how  much 
the  teacher  says,  but  the  suggestiveness  of  it,  the 
problems  raised,  the  questions  whose  answer  lies 
in  the  examination  of  the  lesson.  The  reference 
to  previous  readings  which  bear  resemblance  to 
this  selection,  the  inquiry  into  children's  experi- 
ences, sets  them  to  thinking. 

Sometimes  it  pays  to  spend  five  or  ten  minutes 
in  attacking  the  difficult  words  and  meanings  of 
the  lesson  assigned.  Let  the  class  read  on  and 


ItcadiiK/.  !)7 

discover  words  or  phrases  that  puzzle  them.  Let 
difficult  forms  be  put  on  the  board  and  syllabi- 
cated if  necessary.  A  brief  study  of  synonymous 
words  and  phrases  may  be  in  place. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  decline  all  helpful  and  sug- 
gestive study  of  the  next  lesson  in  class,  on  the 
ground  that  it  invalidates  the  self-activity  of 
children.  Self-activity  is,  indeed,  the  chief  aim 
of  a  good  assignment.  It  is  designed  to  stimulate 
the  children  to  energetic  and  well-directed  effort. 
Self -activity  is  not  encouraged  by  requiring  chil- 
dren to  struggle  with  obstacles  they  have  not  the 
ability  to  surmount.  Pronouncing  new  words  and 
searching  for  dictionary  meanings  is  often  made 
a  mechanical  labor  which  is  irksome  and  largely 
fruitless,  because  the  wrong  pronunciations  are 
"learned  and  the  definitions  do  not  fit.  Before 
children  are  required  to  use  the  dictionary  in  pro- 
nouncing and  defining  words,  they  need  careful 
exercises  in  how  to  use  and  to  interpret  the  dic- 
tionary. 

The  teacher  needs  to  make  a  study  of  the  art 
of  assigning  lessons.  Clearness  and  simplicity, 
so  as  to  give  no  ground  for  misunderstandings, 
are  the  result  of  thoughtful  preparation  on  the 
teacher's  part.  There  is 'always  danger  of  giving 
too  much  or  too  little,  of  careless  and  unsteady 
requirements,  over-burdening  the  children  one  day 
and  even  forgetting  the  next  day  to  assign  a  defi- 
nite task.  The  forethought  and  precision  with 


06  Special  Mrlhod. 

which  a  teacher  assigns  her  lessons  is  one  of  the 
best  tests  of  her  prudence  and  success  in  teach- 
ing. 

It  is  necessary  also  to  be  on  one's  guard  against 
hasty  assignments.  Even  when  proper  care  has 
been  taken  in  planning  the  next  lesson,  the  time 
slips  by  with  urgent  work,  and  the  signal  for  dis- 
missal comes  before  time  has  been  taken  for  any 
clear  assignment. 

3.  The  major  part  of  time  and  effort  in  reading 
classes  should  be  given  to  the  reading  proper,  and 
not  to  oral  discussions,  explanations,  and  collateral 
information  and  references.  It  is  possible  to  have 
interesting  discussions  and  much  use  of  reference 
books,  and  still  make  small  progress  in  expres- 
sive reading.  The  main  thing  should  not  be  lost 
sight  of.  We  should  learn  to  march  steadily  for- 
ward through  lively  and  energetic  thought  to- 
ward expressive  reading.  There  is  no  other  right 
approach  to  good  reading  except  through  a  lively 
grasp  of  the  thought,  sentiment,  and  style  of  the 
author.  But  the  side-lights  that  come  from  col- 
lateral reading  and  reference  are  of  great  signifi- 
cance. They  are  something  like  the  scenery  on 
the  stage.  They  make  the  effect  more  intense 
and  real.  They  supply  a  background  of  environ- 
ment and  association  which  give  the  ideas  more 
local  significance  and  a  stronger  basis  in  the 
whole  complex  of  ideas. 

If  the  teacher  knows  just  what  references  will 


Beading.  99 

throw  added  light  upon  the  lesson,  what  books 
and  pages  will  be  directly  helpful,  if  he  can  ap- 
point different  pupils  to  look  up  particular  refer- 
ences and  sometimes  even  go  to  the  library  with 
them  and  search  for  the  references,  in  grades  from 
the  fifth  through  the  eighth  the  result  may  be 
very  helpful.  In  the  class  recitation  it  is  neces- 
sary to  gather  up  the  fruits  of  this  reference  work 
with  as  little  waste  of  time  as  possible,  recogniz- 
ing that  it  is  purely  collateral  to  the  main  pur- 
pose. 

Pictures  and  maps  are  useful  oftentimes  as 
references.  As  children  advance  in  the  grades, 
they  are  capable  of  greater  independence  and 
judgment  in  the  use  of  references.  General,  loose, 
and  indefinite  references  are  a  sign  of  ignorance, 
carelessness,  and  lack  of  preparation  on  the 
teacher's  part.  They  are  discouraging  and  un- 
profitable to  children.  But  we  desire  to  see  chil- 
dren broadening  their  views,  extending  their 
knowledge  of  books  and  of  how  to  use  them.  The 
amount  of  good  literature  that  can  be  well  treated 
and  read  in  the  class  is  small,  but  much  sugges- 
tive outside  home-  and  vacation-reading  may  be 
encouraged  that  wTill  open  a  still  wider  and  richer 
area  of  personal  study. 

4.  In  spite  of  all  the  precautions  of  the  teacher, 
in  spite  of  lively  interest  and  intelligent  study  by 
the  children,  there  will  be  many  haltings  and 
blunders,  many  inaccuracies  in  the  use  of  eye  and 


100  /Special  Method. 

voice.  These  faults  spring-  partly  from  habit  and 
previous  home  influences.  The  worst  faults  are 
often  those  of  which  a  child  is  unconscious,  so 
habitual  have  they  become.  If  we  are  to  meet 
these  difficulties  wisely  we  must  start  and  keep  up 
a  strong-  momentum  in  the  class.  There  should  be  a 
steady  and  strong1  current  of  effort  in  which  all 
share.  This  depends,  as  has  been  often  said, 
upon  the  power  of  the  selection  to  awaken  the 
thought  and  feeling-  of  the  children.  It  depends 
equally  upon  the  pervasive  spirit  and  energy  of 
the  teacher.  If  we  try  to  analyze  this  complex 
phenomenon  we  may  find  that,  so  far  as  the  chil- 
dren are  concerned,  two  elements  are  present, 
natural  and  spontaneous  absorption  in  the  ideas 
and  sensibilities  awakened  by  the  author,  and  the 
bracing-  conviction  that  sustained  effort  is  ex- 
pected and  required  by  the  teacher.  Children,  to 
read  well,  must  be  free;  they  must  feel  the  force 
of  ideas  and  of  the  emotions  and  convictions  awak- 
ened by  them.  They  must  also  be  conscious  of 
that  kind  of  authority  and  control  which  insists 
upon  serious  and  sustained  effort.  Freedom  to 
exercise  their  own  powers  and  obedience  to  a  con- 
trolling influence  are  needful.  If  the  teacher  can 
secure  this  right  movement  and  ferment  in  a 
class,  she  will  be  able  to  correct  the  errors  and 
change  bad  habits  into  the  desired  form  of  expres- 
sion. The  correction  of  errors,  in  the  main,  should 
be  quiet,  incidental,  sug-gestive,  not  disturbing 


Il'i'HUlHf.  101 

the  child's  thought  and  effort,  not  destroying"  the 
momentum  of  his  sentiment  and  feeling.  Let 
him  move  on  firmly  and  vigorously,  only  direct 
his  movement  here  and  there,  modify  his  tone  by 
easy  suggestions  and  pertinent  questions,  and  en- 
courage him  as  far  as  possible  in  his  own  effort  to 
appreciate  and  express  the  author's  idea. 

In  reading  lessons  there  are  certain  purely  for- 
mal exercises  that  are  very  helpful.  The  single 
and  concert  pronunciation  of  difficult  or  unusual 
words  that  come  up  in  old  and  new  lessons,  the 
vocal  exercises  in  syllabication,  and  in  vowel  and 
consonant  drill,  are  examples.  They  should  be 
quick  and  vigorous  and  preliminary  to  their  ap- 
plication in  lessons. 

5.  The  teacher  is  only  a  guide  and  interpreter. 
With  plenty  of  reserve  power,  he  should  only  draw 
upon  it  occasionally.  His  chief  business  is  not  to 
show  the  children  how  to  read  by  example  nor  to 
be  always  explaining  and  amplifying  the  thought 
of  the  author.  His  aim  should  be  to  best  call  the 
minds  of  the  children  into  strong"  action  through 
the  stimulation  of  the  author's  thought  and  to  go 
a  step  further  and  reproduce  and  mould  this 
thought  into  oral  expression. 

In  order  to  call  out  the  best  efforts  of  children, 
a  teacher  needs  to  study  well  the  art  of  questioning. 
The  range  of  possibilities  in  questioning1  is  very 
wide.  If  a  rational,  sensible  question  is  regarded 
as  the  central  or  zero  point  there  are  many  degrees 


102  Special  Method. 

below  it  in  the  art  of  questioning  and  many  degrees 
above  it.  Below  it  is  a  whole  host  of  half-rational 
or  useless  questions  which  would  better  be  left 
unborn.  What  does  this  word  mean  ?  Why  didn't 
you  study  your  lesson  ?  Why  weren't  you  paying 
attention  ?  What  is  the  definition  of  also  ?  How 
many  mistakes  did  Mary  make  ? 

Much  time  is  sometimes  wasted  in  trying  to  an- 
swer aimless  or  trivial  questions.  Peter,  what 
does  this  strange  word  mean,  or  how  do  you  pro- 
nounce it  ?  Ethel  may  try  it.  Who  thinks  he 
can  pronounce  it  better  ?  Johnny,  try  it  ?  Perhaps 
somebody  knows  how  it  ought  to  be?  Sarah,  can't 
you  pronounce  it  ?  Finally  after  various  efforts, 
the  teacher  passes  on  to  something  else  without 
even  making  clear  the  true  pronunciation  or  mean- 
ing. This  is  worse  than  killing  time.  It  is  be- 
fuddling children.  A  question  should  aim  clearly 
at  some  important  idea,  and  should  bring  out  a 
definite  result.  The  children  should  have  time  to 
think  but  not  to  guess  and  dawdle,  and  then  to  be 
left  groping  in  the  dark. 

The  chief  aim  of  questions  is  to  arouse  vigor 
and  variety  of  thought  as  a  means  of  better  appre- 
ciation and  expression.  Children  read  poorly  be- 
cause they  do  not  see  the  meaning  or  do  not  feel 
the  force  of  the  sentiment.'  They  give  wrong  em- 
phasis and  intonation.  A  good  question  is  like  a 
flash  of-,  lightning  which  suddenly  reveals  our 
standing  ground  and  surroundings,  and  gives  the 


child  a  chance  to  strike  out  again  for  himself. 
His  intelligence  lights  up,  he  sees  the  point  and 
responds  with  a  significant  rendering  of  the 
thought.  But  the  teacher  must  be  a  thinker  to 
ask  simple  and  pertinent  questions.  He  can't  go 
at  it  in  a  loose  and  lumbering  fashion.  Lively 
and  sympathetic  and  appreciative  of  the  child's 
moods  and  feelings  must  he  be,  as  well  as  clear 
and  definite  in  his  own  perception  of  the  author's 
meaning. 

Questioning  for  meaning  is  equivalent  to  that 
for  securing  expression  and  thus  two  birds  are 
hit  with  one  stone.  A  pointed  question  energizes 
thought  along  a  definite  line  and  leads  to  a  more 
intense  and  vivid  perception  of  the  meaning. 
This  is  just  the  vantage-ground  we  desire  in  order 
to  secure  good  expression.  We  wish  children 
not  to  imitate,  but  first  to  see  and  feel  and  then 
to  express  in  becoming  wise  the  thought  as  they 
see  it  and  feel  it.  This  makes  reading  a  genuine 
performance,  not  a  parrot-like  formalism. 

6.  Trying  to  awaken  the  mental  energy  and  ac- 
tion of  a  class  as  they  move  on  through  a  master- 
piece, requires  constant  watchfulness  to  keep  alive 
their  sense-perceptions  and  memories  and  to  touch 
their  imaginations  into  constructive  effort  at  every 
turn  in  the  road.  Through  the  direct  action  of 
the  senses  the  children  have  accumulated  much  va- 
riety of  sense-materials,  of  country  and  town,  of 
hill,  valley,  river,  lake,  fields,  buildings,  indus- 


1W  Special  Method. 

tries,  roads,  homes,  gardens,  seasons.  Out  of  this 
vast  and  varied  quarry  they  are  able  to  gather  ma- 
terials with  which  to  construct  any  landscape  or 
situation  you  may  desire.  Give  the  children  abun- 
dance of  opportunity  to  use  these  collected  riches 
and  to  construct,  each  in  his  own  way,  the  scenes 
and  pictures  that  the  poet's  art  so  vividly  sug- 
gests. Many  of  the  questions  we  ask  of  children 
are  designed  simply  to  recall  and  reawaken  im- 
ages which  lie  dormant  in  their  minds,  or,  on  the 
other  hand,  to  find  out  whether  they  can  combine 
their  old  sense-perceptions  so  skillfully  and  vividly 
as  to  realize  the  present  situation.  Keen  and  apt 
questions  will  reach  down  into  the  depth  of  a 
child's  life-experiences  and  bring  up  concrete  im- 
ages which  the  fancy  then  modifies  and  adjusts 
to  the  present  need.  The  teacher  may  often  sug- 
gest something  in  his  own  observations  to  kindle 
like  memories  in  theirs.  Or,  if  the  subject  seems 
unfamiliar,  he  may  bring  on  a  picture  from  book 
or  magazine.  Sometimes  a  sketch  or  diagram  on 
the  board  may  give  sense-precision  and  definite- 
ness  to  the  object  discussed,  even  though  it  be 
rudely  drawn.  This  constant  appeal  to  what  is 
real  and  tangible  and  experimental,  not  only  lo- 
cates things  definitely  in  time  and  space,  makes 
clear  and  plain  what  was  hazy  or  meaningless, 
awakens  interest  by  connecting  the  story  or  de- 
scription with  former  experiences,  but  it  sets  in 
action  the  creative  imagination  which  shapes  and 


105 

builds  up  new  and  pleasing1  structures,  combining 
old  and  new.  This  kind  of  mental  elaboration 
which  reaches  back  into  the  senses  and  forward 
into  the  imagination,  is  what  gives  nobility  and 
adjustibility  to  our  mental  resources.  It  is  not 
stiff  and  rigid  arid  refractory  knowledge  that  we 
need.  Ideas  may  retain  their  truth  and  strength, 
their  inward  quality,  and  still  submit  to  infinite 
variations  and  adjustments.  Water  is  one  of  the 
most  serviceable  of  all  nature's  compounds,  be- 
cause it  has  such  mobility  of  form,  such  capacity 
to  dissolve  'and  take  into  solution  other  substan- 
ces, or  of  being  absorbed  and  even  lost  sight  of  in 
other  bodies.  The  ideas  we  have  gathered  and 
stored  up  from  all  sources  are  our  building1  ma- 
terials; the  imagination  is  the  architect  who  con- 
ceives the  plan  and  directs  the  use  of  different 
materials  in  the  growth  of  the  new  structures. 
The  teacher's  chief  function  in  reading  classes  is, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  see  that  children  revive  and 
utilize  their  sense-knowledge,  and  on  the  other  to 
wake  the  sleeping  giant  and  set  him  to  work  to 
build  the  beauteous  structures  for  which  the  ma- 
terials have  been  prepared.  But  for  this,  teachers 
could  be  dispensed  with.  As  Socrates  said,  they 
are  only  helpers,  they  stand  by,  not  to  perform  the 
work,  but  to  gently  guide,  to  stimulate,  and  now 
and  then  to  lend  a  helping  hand  over  a  bad  place. 
Explanations,  therefore,  on  the  teacher's  part, 
should  be  clear  and  brief,  purely  tributary  to  the 


106  Special  Method. 

main  effort.  In  younger  classes  when  the  children 
have,  as  yet,  little  ability  to  use  references,  the 
teacher  may  add  much,  especially  if  it  be  con- 
crete, graphic,  picturesque,  and  bearing  directly 
upon  the  subject.  But  as  children  grow  more 
self-reliant  they  can  look  up  facts  and  references 
and  bring  more  material  themselves  to  the  eluci- 
dation of  the  lesson.  But  even  in  adult  classes 
the  rich  experience  of  a  trained  and  wise  teacher 
whose  illustrations  are  apt  and  graphic  and  criti- 
cisms incisive,  is  an  intense  pleasure  and  stimu- 
lus to  students. 

7.  In  the  class-room  we  always  have  more  or 
less  trouble  with  positions  in  sitting  and  stand- 
ing, posture  in  holding  book,  etc.  In  this  as  in 
so  many  other  things,  it  seems  to  us  that  we 
ought  to  go  back  to  the  hilltops  in  order  to  ac- 
cumulate the  proper  momentum  in  descending 
into  the  valley.  Suggestions  for  improvement 
along  these  lines  of  physical  mannerisms  should 
be  gentle  and  quiet,  not  harsh  and  brusque.  A 
glance  of  the  eye  or  a  motion  of  the  hand  will 
often  do  more  good  than  a  yell  or  a  scold.  Estab- 
lish respect  for  gentleness,  kindness,  firmness, 
and  justice,  and  then  apply  the  brakes  gently  but 
not  so  quickly  as  to  stop  the  train  suddenly  and 
shake  up  the  passengers.  If  we  can  only  get  the 
children  into  the  right  mental  attitude,  their 
bodies  will  come  into  shape,  not  instantly  but 
gradually.  Freedom  and  self-possession  on  the 


107 

child's  part  will  soon  become  a  source  of  joy  both 
to  him  and  to  the  teacher.  Banish  fear  and  trem- 
bling from  the  class-room,  introduce  self-respect 
and  mutual  confidence  and  matter  for  energetic 
thinking.  Then  we  shall  be  able  to  touch  the 
springs  gently  here  and  there  as  we  move  steadily 
on  and  bring  the  bodies  of  the  children  out  of 
their  awkward  habits  into  the  proper  adjustment 
and  harmony. 

8.  Among  the  resources  which  every  teacher 
will  employ  in  a  moderate  degree  are  dialogue, 
concert,  and  imitation  reading. 

Even  in  third  grade  the  fables  give  the  chil- 
dren a  chance  to  impersonate  animals  or  plants 
and  to  respond  to  each  other  in  conversations. 
In  the  highest  forms  of  literature  for  adults  the 
same  situation  recurs  in  Shakespeare's  plays,  in 
Schiller,  and  all  the  dramatists  and  novelists. 
It  involves  an  appeal  to  the  imagination  that 
arouses  interest  and  pleasure. 

Certain  passages  in  prose  and  verse  have  a 
rythmic  energy  and  swing  which  adapts  them  to 
concert  reading.  Not  infrequently  it  corresponds 
to  the  facts  when  several  persons  are  represented 
as  speaking  together,  as  in  the  old  Greek  Chorus, 
in  our  battle -songs,  and  in  pieces  set  to  music. 
Such  chorus  reading  not  only  gives  variety  and 
establishes  a  normal  style  to  which  all  conform, 
but  it  produces  an  energy  and  feeling  that  do  not 
spring  from  single  reading.  Yet  everyone  knows 
the  limitations  of  concert-drill. 


I"*  Special  Method. 

While  reading-  by  imitation  can  be  and  should 
be  banished  from  our  schools  as  a  prevailing- mode 
of  learning  to  read,  it  will  retain  none  the  less, 
within  proper  limits,  a  potent  influence.  A  good 
reader  will  be  imitated,  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously. An  even  superficial  observer  may  no- 
tice common  traits  that  generally  characterize  our 
reading  in  schools,  and  others  quite  different  that 
characterize  German  and  other  foreign  schools. 
It  is  a  good  thing  once  in  a  while  for  children 
to  hear,  some  first-class  reading,  so  as  to  acquire 
a  better  notion  of  what  true  reading  means.  If 
not  more  than  once  a  week  for  five  minutes  a 
teacher  would  read  something  which  he  had  care- 
fully thought  out  and  prepared,  so  as  to  give 
great  naturalness  and  fitness  of  expression,  the 
children  would  be  benefited;  not  by  reading  the 
same  selection  in  the  same  way,  but  by  catching 
the  spirit  and  applying  it  later  in  their  own  ef- 
fort. For  this  reason  it  is  well  for  children  to 
hear  readers  of  ability  who  are  not  too  elocution- 
ary. This  suggests,  also,  that  in  certain  classes  of 
reading,  such  as  characterizations,  he  is  the  true 
reader  who  can  imitate  best  the  truth  of  nature 
and  experience. 

9.  In  order  to  keep  up  the  right  interest  and 
movement  it  is  necessary  to  give  considerable  va- 
riety to  the  work.  A  teacher's  good  sense  and 
tact  should  be  like  a  thermometer  which  registers 
the  mental  temperature  of  the  class.  If  kept  too 


Uniting.  Hi!) 

long"  at  a  single  line  of  effort,  its  monotony  in- 
duces carelessness  and  inattention,  while  a  total 
change  to  some  other  order  of  exercise  would 
awake  their  interest  and  zeal.  Variety  is  needed 
also  within  the  compass  of  a  single  recitation  be- 
cause there  are  several  preliminaries  and  varie- 
ties of  preparatory  drill  which  conduce  to  good 
rendering-  of  any  selection.  Such  are  vocal  exer- 
cises in  consonants  and  vowels,  pronunciation 
and  syllabication  of  new  or  difficult  words,  phys- 
ical exercises  to  put  the  body  and  nervous  system 
into  proper  tone,  the  assignment  of  the  next  les- 
son requiring  a  peculiar  effort  and  manner  of  treat- 
ment, the  report  and  discussion  of  references, 
concert  drills,  the  study  of  meanings — synonyms 
and  derivations,  illustrations  and  information  by 
the  teacher,  introduction  of  other  illustrative 
matter  as  pictures,  drawings,  maps,  and  dia- 
grams. Variety  can  be  given  to  each  lesson  in 
many  ways  according  to  the  ingenuity  of  the 
teacher.  If  we  are  reading  a  number  of  short  se- 
lections, they  themselves  furnish  different  varie- 
ties and  types  of  prose  and  verse.  The  dramatist 
or  novelist  provides  for  such  variety  by  introduc- 
ing a  series  of  diverse  scenes  all  leading  forward 
to  a  common  end. 

10.  Parallel  to  the  requirement  of  variety  is 
the  equally  important  demand  that  children  should 
learn  to  do  one  thing  at  a  time  and  learn  to  do  it 
well.  This  may  appear  contradictory  to  the  for- 


110  Special  Method. 

mer  requirement,  but  the  skill  and  tact  of  the 
teacher  is  what  should  solve  this  seeming  contra- 
diction. It  is  a  fact  that  we  try  to  do  too  many 
things  in  each  reading-  lesson.  We  fail  to  pound 
on  one  nail  long  enough  to  drive  it  in.  Reading 
lessons  often  resemble  a  child  pounding  nails 
into  a  board.  He  strikes  one  nail  a  blow  or  two, 
then  another,  and  so  on  until  a  dozen  or  more  are 
in  all  stages  of  incompleteness.  We  too  often 
allow  the  recitation  hour  to  end  with  a  lot  of  such 
incomplete  efforts.  Good  reading  is  not  like  mov- 
ing a  house,  when  it  is  all  carried  along  in  one 
piece.  We  shall  reach  better  results  if  we  con- 
centrate attention  and  effort  during  a  recitation 
along  the  line  of  a  narrow  aim.  At  least  this 
seems  true  of  the  more  formal,  mechanical  side  of 
reading.  It  is  better  to  try  to  break  up  bad  hab- 
its, one  at  a  time,  rather  than  to  make  a  general, 
indefinite  onslaught  upon  them  all  together.  Sup- 
pose, for  example,  that  the  teacher  suggests  as  an 
aim  of  the  lesson  conversational  reading,  or  that 
which  sounds  like  pupils  talking  to  each  other. 
Many  dialogue  selections  admit  of  such  an  aim  as 
this.  If  this  aim  is  set  up  at  the  beginning  of  the 
lesso.n, the  children's  minds  will  be  rendered  acute 
in  this  direction,  they  will  be  on  the  alert  for  this 
kind  of  game.  Each  child  who  reads  is  scrutinized 
by  teacher  and  pupils  to  see  how  near  he  comes  to 
the  ideal.  A  conscious  effort  begins  to  dominate 
the  class  to  reach  this  specific  goal.  Children 


Heading.  Ill 

may  close  their  eyes  and  listen  to  see  if  the  read- 
ing" has  the  right  sound.  A  girl  or  boy  goes  into 
an  adjoining1  entry  or  dressing-room  and  listens  to 
see  if  those  in  the  class  are  reading"  or  talking. 
The  enthusiasm  and  class  spirit  awakened  are 
very  helpful.  Not  that  a  whole  recitation  should 
be  given  up  to  that  sort  of  thing",  but  it  is  the  char- 
acteristic effort  of  the  lesson.  When  the  children 
practice  the  next  lesson  at  home  they  will  have 
this  point  in  mind. 

For  several  days  this  sort  of  specific,  definite 
aim  at  a  narrow  result  may  be  followed  up  in  the 
class  till  the  children  begin  to  acquire  power  in 
this  direction.  What  was,  at  first,  painfully  con- 
scious effort,  begins  to  assume  the  form  of  habit, 
and  when  this  result  is  achieved,  we  may  drop 
this  aim  as  a  leading  one  in  the  recitation,  and 
turn  our  attention  to  some  different  line  of  effort. 
Distinct  pronunciation  of  sounds  is  one  of  the  things 
that  we  are  always  aiming  at,  in  a  general  way. 
and  never  getting.  Why  not  set  this  up  in  a  series 
of  recitations  as  a  definite  aim,  and  resort  to  a 
series  of  devices  to  lay  bare  the  kind  of  faults  the 
children  are  habitually  guilty  of?  Give  them  a 
chance  to  correct  these  faults,  and  awake  the 
class  spirit  in  this  direction.  It  will  not  be  diffi- 
cult to  convince  them  that  they  are  not  pronounc- 
ing their  final  consonants,  like  d,  t,  I,  m,  r,  and  k. 
Keep  the  attention  for  a  lesson  to  this  kind  of 
error  till  there  is  recognizable  improvement. 


112  8prci ( r  I  Mclli  od, 

Then  notice  the  short  vowel  sounds  in.  the  unac- 
cented syllables,  and  give  them  search-light  ac- 
tention.  Notice  later  the  syllables  that  children 
commonly  slur  over.  Mark  these  fugitives  and 
see  if  they  continue  so  invisible  and  inaudible. 
They  are  like  Jack  the  Giant  Killer,  when  he  put 
on  his  cloak  of  invisibility,  or  like  Perseus  under 
similar  circumstances.  See  if  we  can  find  these 
fellows  who  seem  to  masquerade  and  dodge  about 
behind  their  companions.  Then  some  of  the  long 
vowels  and  diphthongs  will  require  investigation. 
They  are  not  all  so  open-faced  and  above  board 
as  they  might  be.  When  children  have  such  a 
simple  and  distinct  aim  in  view,  they  are  ready  to 
work  with  a  vim  and  to  exert  themselves  in  a 
conscious  effort  at  improvement.-  Keep  this  aim 
foremost  in  the  recitation,  although  other  require- 
ments of  good  reading  are  not  wholly  neglected. 
After  a  definite  line  of  effort  has  been  strongly 
developed  as  one  of  the  above  described,  it  is  pos- 
sible thereafter  to  keep  it  in  mind  with  slight  at- 
tention. But  if  no  special  drill  has  ever  been  de- 
voted to  it  for  a  given  length  of  time,  it  has  not 
been  brought  so  distinctly  to  mind  as  to  produce 
a  lasting  impression  and  to  lay  the  basis  for  habit. 
Besides  the  two  aims,  clear  articulation  and  con- 
versational tones,  there  are  others  that  may  be 
labored  at  similarly.  Appreciation  of  the  thought 
as  expressed  by  the  reading  is  a  rich  field  for 
critical  study  of  a  piece  and  as  a  basis  for  observ- 


lieading.  •»!•'* 

ing  and  judging1  the  children's  reading.  This  idea 
is  well  implied  by  such  questions  as  follow:  Is 
that  what  the  passage  means?  Have  you  given 
expression  to  the  author's  meaning  by  emphasis 
on  this  word?  Does  your  rendering  of  this  passage 
make  good  sense?  Compare  it  with  what  pre- 
cedes: How  did  the  man  feel  when  he  said  this? 
What  do  we  know  of  this  character  that  would 
lead  us  to  expect  such  words  from  him?  This 
line  of  questions  has  a  wide  and  varied  range. 
The  chief  thing  is  to  scrutinize  the  thought  in  all 
the  light  attainable  and  appeal  to  the  child's  own 
judgment  as  to  the  suitableness  of  the  tone  and 
emphasis  to  the  thought.  Does  it  sound  right? 
Is  that  what  the  passage  means? 

Each  characteristic  form  of  prose  or  verse  has 
a  peculiar  style  and  force  of  expression  that  calls 
for  a  corresponding  oral  rendering.  There  is  the 
serious  and  massive,  though  simple,  diction  of 
Webster's  speeches,  with  its  smooth  and  rounded 
periods,  calling  for  slow  and  steady  and  energetic 
reading.  We  should  notice  this  characteristic  of 
an  author  and  grow  into  sympathy  with  his  feel- 
ing, language,  and  mental  movement.  In  Macau- 
lay's  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,  the  ring  of  martial 
music  is  in  the  words  and  it  swells  out  into  rapid 
and  rousing  speech  which  should  correspond  to 
the  thought.  In  Evangeline,  the  flow  of  language 
is  placid  and  gentle  and  rhythmical,  and  in  conso- 
nance with  the  gentle  faith  and  hope  of  Evan- 


1 1 J  Special  Method. 

geline.  Every  true  literary  product  has  its  own 
character,  which  the  genius  of  the  author  has  im- 
pressed upon  its  language  and  moulded  into  its 
structure,  and  which  calls  for  a  rendering  fit  and 
appropriate.  Before  completing  a  selection,  we 
should  detect  this  essence  and  quality  and  bring 
our  reading  to  reveal  it.  The  places  should  be 
pointed  out  where  it  comes  into  prominence. 

When  completing  such  a  work  of  art  there 
should  be  given  opportunity  to  bring  all  the  va- 
ried elements  discovered  and  worked  out  during 
its  reading  to  a  complete  expression.  The  chil- 
dren will  naturally  memorize  certain  passages 
which  strike  their  fancy.  Other  passages  have 
been  suggested  by  the  teachers  for  different  pu- 
pils to  memorize.  In  one  of  the  closing  lessons 
let  the  children  recite  these  parts  before  the 
class.  If  the  teacher  has  succeeded  in  calling  out 
the  live  interest  of  the  class  during  the  previous 
study,  such  a  lesson  will  be  a  joy  to  both  pupils 
and  teacher.  One  or  two  of  the  children  may  also 
volunteer  or  be  appointed  to  make  an  oral  state- 
ment of  the  argument,  which  will  give  freedom 
to  natural  and  effective  speech.  Such  a  round-up 
of  the  reading  lessons  at  the  end  of  a  series  of 
interesting  studies  is  a  rich  experience  to  the 
whole  class. 

Besides  the  important  special  aims  thus  far 
suggested,  which  should  each  stand  out  clear 
for  a  series  of  lessons  until  its  value  is  real- 


Ill  I  111  i  III/.  11") 

ized  and  worked  over  into  habit,  there  are  other 
subordinate  aims  that  deserve  particular  and  in- 
dividual consideration,  and  may  now  and  then  be- 
come the  dominant  purpose  of  a  lesson.  Such  are 
the  correction  of  sing-song-  in  reading,  the  use  of 
the  dictionary,  the  study  of  synonyms  and  anti- 
theses, the  comparisons  and  figures  of  speech,  ex- 
ercises in  sight  reading  of  unfamiliar  selections, 
quotations  from  selections  and  masterpieces  al- 
ready read,  study  of  the  lives  and  works  of 
authors. 

Reading  is  a  many-sided  study,  and  to  ap- 
proach its  difficulties  with  success  we  must  take 
them  up  one  at  a  time,  conquering  them  in  detail. 
Good  housekeepers  and  cooks  are  accustomed  to 
lay  out  a  series  of  dinners  in  which  the  chief 
article  of  diet  is  varied  from  day  to  day  as  fol- 
lows: chicken  pie  with  oysters,  veal  pot-pie, 
stewed  fish,  broiled  beef  steak,  venison  roast,  bean* 
soup  with  ham,  roast  mutton,  baked  fish,  roast, 
quail,  roast  beef,  baked  chicken  with  parsnips, 
etc.  Such  a  series  of  dinners  gives  a  healthy  va- 
riety and  relish.  It  is  better  for  most  people 
than  the  bill  of  fare  at  a  large  hotel,  where  there 
is  so  much  variety  and  sameness  each  day.  When 
we  try  each  day  to  do  everything  in  a  reading  les- 
son, we  grasp  more  than  our  hands  can  hold  and 
most  of  it  falls  out  ill.  Children  are  pleased 
and  encouraged  by  actual  progress  in  surmount- 
ing difficulties  when  they  are  presented  one  at  a 


ilfi  Special  Method 

time  and  opportunity  is  given  for  complete  mas- 
tery. The  children  should  labor  consciously  and 
vigorously  at  one  line  of  effort,  be  it  distinctness 
or  rhythm,  or  emphasis,  or  conversational  tone, 
till  decided  improvement  and  progress  are  at- 
tained and  the  ease  of  right  habit  begins  to  show 
itself.  Then  we  can  turn  to  some  new  field,  secur- 
ing and  holding  the  vantage-ground  of  our  fore- 
going effort  by  occasional  reminders. 

11.  One  of  the  best  tests  applied  to  a  reading 
class  is  their  degree  of  class- attention.  The  steadi- 
ness and  responsiveness  with  which  the  whole 
class  follow  the  work  is  a  fair  measure  of  success- 
ful teaching.  To  have  but  one  child  read  at  a 
time  while  the  others  wait  their  turn  or  scatter 
their  thoughts, is  very  bad.  It  is  a  good  sign  of  a 
teacher's  skill  and  efficiency  to  see  every  child  in 
energetic  pursuit  of  the  reading.  It  conduces  to 
the  best  progress  in  that  study  and  is  the  genesis 
of  right  mental  habit. 

Attention  is  a  sine  qua  non  to  good  teaching, 
.and  yet  it  is  a  result  rather  than  a  cause.  It  is  a 
ripe  fruit  rather  than  the  spring  promise  of  it. 
The  provisions  which  lead  up  to  steady  attention 
are  deserving  of  a  teacher's  study  and  patient 
scrutiny.  She  may  command  attention  for  a  mo- 
ment by  sheer  force  of  will  and  personality,  but  it 
must  have  something  to  feed  upon  the  next  moment 
and  the  next,  or  it  will  be  wandering  in  distant 
fields.  So  great  and  indispensable  is  the  value 


Heading.  117 

of  attention  that  some  teachers  try  to  secure  it  at 
too  heavy  a  cost.  They  command,  threaten,  pun- 
ish. They  resort  to  severity  and  cruelty.  But 
the  more  formidable  the  teacher  becomes  the 
more  difficult  for  a  child  to  do  his  duty.  Here, 
again,  we  can  best  afford  to  go  back  to  the  sources 
from  which  attention  naturally  springs,  interest- 
ing" subject  of  thought,  vivid  and  concrete  percep- 
tions, lively  and  suggestive  appeal  to  the  imag- 
ination, the  sphere  of  noble  thought  and  emotion, 
variety  and  movement  in  mental  effort,  a  mutual 
sympathy  and  harmony  between  teacher  and  pu- 
pil. 

It  is  indeed  well  for  the  teacher  to  gauge  his 
work  by  the  kind  and  intensity  of  attention  he 
can  secure.  If  the  class  has  dropped  into  sloth- 
ful and  habitual  carelessness  and  inattention,  he 
will  have  to  give  them  a  few  severe  jolts;  he 
must  drop  questions  when  they  are  least  expected. 
He  must  be  very  alert  to  detect  a  listless  child 
and  wake  him  into  action.  The  vigor,  personal 
will,  and  keen  watchfulness  of  the  teacher  must 
be  a  constant  resource.  On  the  other  hand,  let 
him  look  well  to  the  thought,  the  feeling,  and  ca- 
pacity of  the  children  and  give  them  matter  which 
is  equal  to  their  merits. 

The  treadmill  style  of  reading  which  repeats 
and  repeats,  doing  the  same  things  day  by  day, 
going  through  the  like  round  of  mechanical  mo- 
tions, should  give  way  to  a  rational,  spirited, 


Special  Method. 

variegated  method  which  arouses  interest  and 
variety  of  thought  and  moves  ever  toward  a  con- 
scious goal. 

12.  In  reading  one  selection  or  work  it  is  well 
to  trace  back  numerous   references  and  sugges- 
tions to  similar  words,  phrases,  and   ideas   that 
have  occurred    in   previous    studies.      A    single 
word  not  infrequently  suggests  a  whole  passage; 
a  figure  of  speech  is  like  one  that  was  used  by 
the  same  or  another  author  in  former  readings. 
This  is  a  choice  study  of  thought  and  language, 
a  favorite  mode  of  review  and  refreshment,  and 
cultivates  a  habit  of  thoughtful   retrospect   and 
use  of  acquired  funds  of  great  educative  value. 
Children  themselves  take  much  pleasure  in  this 
kind  of  comparative   study  and  memorizing.     It 
encourages  a  keener  perception  of  thought  and 
expression   and   a   more  definite   deposit   in   the 
memory  of  fruitful  ideas  in  exquisite  form. 

13.  There  are  two  kinds  of  reading  which  should 
be  cultivated  in   reading  lessons,  although  they 
seem  to  fall  a  little  apart  from  the  main  highway 
of  effort.      They  are  first,  sight-reading  of  supple- 
mentary matter  for  the  purpose  of  cultivating  a 
quick   and   accurate  grasp  of  new  thought  and 
forms.     When  we  leave  school  the  chief  value  of 
reading  will   be  the   power  it   gives  to  interpret 
quickly  and  grasp  firmly  the  ideas  as  they  present 
themselves  in  the  magazines,  papers,  and   books 
we  read.     Good  efforts  in  school  reading  will  lead 


n.i 

forward  gradually  to  that  readiness  of  thought 
and  fluency  of  perception  which  will  give  freedom 
and  mastery  of  new  reading  matter.  To  develop 
this  ability  and  to  regulate  it  into  habit,  we  must 
give  children  a  chance  to  read  quite  a  little  at 
sight.  We  need  supplementary  readers  in  sets 
which  can  be  put  into  the  hands  of  children  for 
this  purpose.  The  same  books  will  answer  for 
several  classes  and  may  be  passed  from  room  to 
room  of  similar  grade. 

The  reading-  matter  we  select  for  this  purpose 
may  be  classic  and  of  the  best  quality,  just  as 
well  as  to  be  limited  to  information  and  geograph- 
ical readers  which  are  much  inferior.  There  are 
first-class  books  of  science  and  of  travel  which 
are  entirely  serviceable  for  this  purpose  and  much 
richer  in  culture.  They  continue  the  line  of  study 
in  classic  literature  and  give  ground  for  suggestive 
comparisons  and  reviews  which  should  not  be 
neglected.  There  is  a  strong  tendency  in  our  time 
to  put  inferior  reading  matter  in  the  form  of  in- 
formation readers,  science  primers,  short  history 
stories,  geographical  readers,  newspapers,  add 
specially  prepared  topics  on  current  events  into 
reading  classes.  These  things  may  do  well 
enough  in  their  proper  place  in  geography,  his- 
tory, natural  science,  or  general  lessons,  but  they 
should  appear  scarcely  if  at  all  in  reading  lessons. 
Preserve  the  reading  hour  for  that  which  is  choic- 
est in  our  prose  and  verse,  mainly  in  the  form  of 
shorter  or  longer  masterpieces  of  literature. 


120  Special  Method. 

The  regular  reading-  exercises  should  give  the 
children  a  lively  and  attractive  introduction  to 
some  of  the  best  authors,  and  a  taste  for  the 
strength  and  beauty  of  their  productions.  But 
the  field  of  literature  is  so  wide  and  varied  that 
many  things  can  only  be  suggested  which  will  re- 
main for  the  future  leisure  and  choice  of  readers. 
Children  might,  however,  be  made  acquainted 
with  some  of  the  best  book  suited  to  their  age  for 
which  there  is  not  school  time.  Many  of  the  best 
books  like  Ivanhoe,  Quentin  Durward,  John  Hali- 
fax, Adam  Bede,  and  Nicholas  Nicolby;  can  not 
be  read  in  school.  They  should  be  in  the  school 
library  and  the  teacher  should  refer  to  them  and 
others  as  suggested  by  the  regular  reading,  which 
give  deeper  and  wider  views  into  life. 


Iteadiny.  121 


CHAPTER  VII. 

LIST   OF   BOOKS— SUGGESTIONS. 

The  following- list  of  books  is  designed  to  take 
the  place  of  the  readers  in  the  regular  reading 
work  of  the  eight  grades.  Besides  the  general 
discussions  of  these  books  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ters, a  few  additional  explanations  are  necessary 
to  make  plain  the  grounds  upon  which  this  par- 
ticular selection  and  arrangement  of  books  is 
based. 

1.  We  have  aimed  at  the  best  English  classics 
in  prose  and  verse  which  suit  the  age  and  capacity 
of  children  in  each  grade.  The  books  apportioned 
to  each  grade  are  divided  into  three  series.  The 
first  series  usually  contains  the  more  familiar  books 
which  have  been  frequently  tested.  They  are  ar- 
ranged also  in  the  order  suggested  for  their  use. 
The  second  series  includes  books  of  similar  quality 
and  rank  which,  according  to  the  judgment  of  the 
teacher,  may  .be  substituted  for  some  or  all  of 
those  in  the  first  series.  The  second  series  sup- 
plies a  wider  range  for  selection  and  experiment 
and  for  eventually  sifting  out  of  the  best.  The  tit  ini 
series  consists  of  books  which  may  be  read  to  the 
class  on  special  occasions,  or  kept  for  reference  use 


122  Special  Method. 

by  the  children  in  connection  with  topics  sug- 
gested by  the  regular  reading,  or  for  voluntary 
home  reading  which  the  school  may  often  encour- 
age. Some  of  the  books  in  the  third  series  would 
serve  well  for  regular  reading  exercises,  or  for 
training  in  sight-reading. 

2.  This  list  of  books  is  of  course  tentative  and 
incomplete.  There  are  other  literary  works,  as 
good  and  perhaps  better  for  our  purpose,  but  not  a 
few  difficulties  stand  in  the  way  of  the  best  selec- 
tion. Some  of  the  best  materials  are  scattered  in 
books  not  available  for  school  purposes.  The 
readers  in  use  for  many  years  have  not  qualified 
us  for  the  best  selection.  Many  of  the  finest  of 
our  longer  classics  have  not  been  tested  much  in 
school  use.  There  is,  however,  an  abundance  of 
choice  English  classics,  complete,  well  printed 
and  bound,  in  cheap  school-book  form.  The  chief 
difficulty,  after  all,  is  in  selecting  and  arranging 
the  best  of  an  abundant  and  varied  collection  of 
excellent  literature.  This  inspiring  problem  lies 
unsolved  at  the  threshold  of  every  teacher's  work. 
It  requires  extensive  knowledge  of  literature  and 
experience  in  its  use  in  classes.  A  masterpiece 
may  be  read  in  several  grades  and  teachers  will 
differ  in  judging  its  true  place.  Schools  and 
classes  differ  also  in  their  capacity  and  previous 
preparation  for  classic  readings,  so  that  no  course 
of  reading  will  fit  all  schools  or,  perhaps,  any  two 
schools.  Many  principals  will  prefer  to  use  the 


ReaditK/.  123 

books  one  or  two  grades  lower  than  here  indicated. 
Every  teacher  should  use  such  a  list  according  to 
his  best  individual  judgment  as  based  upon  the 
needs  of  his  school.  This  list  was  discussed  and 
partly  made  out  in  conference  with  a  number  of 
experienced  superintendents  and  much  variety  of 
opinion  was  expressed  as  to  the  best  grade  for  the 
use  of  a  number  of  the  classics. 

3.  The  books  chosen  for  each  grade  are  de- 
signed to  be  a  suitable  combination  of  prose  and 
poetry,  of  short  and  long  selections  from  history, 
science,  and  letters.  Variety  in  subject-matter 
and  style  is  required  in  each  grade,  although  cer- 
tain strong  individual  characteristics  are  expected 
to  appear  in  the  literature  of  each  year's  work. 
Many  of  the  shorter  poems  fit  in  well  with  longer 
masterpieces  in  prose  and  verse.  Some  of  the 
epics,  myths,  and  historical  episodes  are  told  in 
both  prose  and  verse.  The  children  may  well 
meet  and  study  them  in  both  forms.  If  from  four 
to  six  larger  classics  could  be  read  each  year,  and 
these  could  bring  out  the  style  and  quality  of  so 
many  authors,  if  a  number  of  suitable  shorter  clas- 
sics could  be  read  and  related  to  the  former,  the 
many-sided  influence  of  literature  would  prove 
each  year  effective.  Literature  is  the  broadest  of 
all  subjects,  both  as  a  basis  of  culture  and  for  the 
unification  of  the  varied  studies.  It  touches  every 
phase  of  experience  and  knowledge  along  its 
higher  levels  and  overlooks  the  whole  field  of  life 


124  Special  Method. 

from  the  standpoint  of  the  seer  and  poet.  The 
classic  reading's  should  aim  at  the  completeness, 
variety,  and  elevation  of  thought  which  literature 
alone  can  give.  Every  year's  literature  should 
open  the  gates  to  meadow  and  woodland,  to  park 
and  fruitful  fields,  into  rich  and  shaded  valleys, 
and  up  to  free  and  sunny  hill  tops  and  mountains. 
4.  The  list  of  books  for  each  year  includes  two 
or  three  books  of  miscellaneous  collections  of 
classics  in  prose  and  verse.  Many  of  the  selec- 
tions are  short  and  some  fragmentary.  Such  are 
the  three  volumes  of  Open  Sesame,  the  Golden 
Treasury  of  Songs  and  Lyrics,  Children's  Treas- 
ury of  English  Song,  and  Book  of  Golden  Deeds. 
The  Heart  of  Oak  Books,  Seven  American  Clas- 
sics and  Masterpieces  of  American  Literature 
contain  also  selections  of  a  miscellaneous  charac- 
ter. In  each  of  the  books  named  is  found  a  variety 
of  material  suited  perhaps  to  two  or  three  grades. 
In  most  of  the  books  just  named  it  is  not  intended 
in  our  plan  that  all  the  selections  should  be  read 
through  in  succession.  It  will  be  better  for  the 
teacher  to  select  from  those  collections  such  choice 
poems,  stories,  etc.,  as  will  enrich  and  supple- 
ment the  longer  classics  and  give  that  added  va- 
riety so  needful.  Many  of  the  finest  classic  poems 
in  our  language  are  short  and  should  not  be 
omitted  from  our  school-course.  They  should  be 
read  and  some  of  them  memorized  by  the  chil- 
dren. It  would  be  well  if  the  teacher  had  in  each 


grade  one  or  two  sets  of  such  books  of  choice 
miscellaneous  materials  from  which  to  select  oc- 
casional reading-.  The  regular  readers  used  by 
the  children  would  consist  of  the  longer  master- 
pieces which  would  be  supplemented  by  the 
shorter  selections.  In  this  way  greater  unity  and 
variety  might  be  achieved  within  the  limits  of 
each  grade. 

5.  Information  books  and  supplementary  read- 
ers in  history,  geography,  and  natural  science 
have  been  excluded,  in  the  main,  from  our  lists. 
The  test  of  literary  excellence  has  been  applied 
to  most  of  the  books  chosen.  De  Quincey's  dis- 
tinction between  the  literature  of  power  and  the 
literature  of  knowledge  is  our  line  of  demarcation. 
It  seems  to  us  probable  that  the  future  will  call 
fora  still  more  stringent  adherence  to  this  princi- 
ple of  selection.  Information  readers  are  good 
and  necessary  in  their  place  in  geography,  his- 
tory, and  natural  science;  but  they  are  not  good 
enough  to  take  the  place  of  classics  in  reading 
lessons.  The  only  exceptions  to  the  rule  of  clas- 
sics are  the  prose  renderings  of  the  old  classics,  as 
the  Story  of  the  Odyssey,  and  the  biographical 
stories  from  history.  Both  these  have  so  much  of 
interest  and  stimulus  for  the  young  that  they  seem 
to  harmonize  with  our  plan.  But  criticism  may 
yet  expose  their  inadequacy. 

It  is  our  plan,  in  brief,  to  limit  the  reading 
work  mainly  to  the  choice  masterpieces  of  the 


126  Special  Method. 

best  authors,  and  to  render  these  studies  as  fruit- 
ful as  possible  in  spiritual  power.  If  supple- 
mentary readings  are  used  at  all,  let  them  be 
those  which  will  strengthen  the  influence  of  the 
classics. 

It  is  our  purpose  to  collect  in  the  Special 
Methods  devoted  to  geography  and  natural  sci- 
ence a  full  list  of  the  supplementary  readers  and 
information  books  in  those  subjects. 

6.  In  our  list,  however,  is  included  quite  a 
number  of  classic  renderings  of  science  and  na- 
ture topics.  Such  are  Wake  Robin,  Birds  and 
Bees,  A  Hunting  of  the  Deer,  etc.,  Sharp  Eyes, 
etc.,  Succession  of  Forest  Trees,  Up  and  Down 
the  Brooks,  Water  Babies,  the  Foot-Path  Way, 
Madam  How  and  Lady  Why.  Even  Nature  Stories 
for  Young  Readers  in  first  and  second  grades  are 
almost  a  classic  rendering  of  topics  suited  to  these 
years. 

These  books,  however,  belong  to  the  literature 
of  power.  They  look  at  nature  through  the  eyes 
of  poet  and  artist  and  enthusiast.  They  are  not 
cold,  matter-of-fact  delineations.  They  unfold  the 
esthetic  and  human  side  of  nature,  the  divinity 
of  flower  and  -tree.  These  books  are  the  com- 
munings  of  the  soul  with  nature  and  are  closely 
related  in  spirit  to  the  poems  of  nature  in  Bryant, 
Wordsworth,  Tennyson,  and  other  poets.  There 
is  a  deep  chasm  between  them  and  our  text-books 
in  science,  which  needs  bridging  over,  perhaps, 


Rinding.  Vll 

but  is  none  the  less  a  chasm.  The  same  break  is 
found  between  text-books  and  true  science  study. 
Now  that  science  is  beginning-  to  be  taught  ob- 
jectively, experimentally,  and  inductively,  there 
will  be  much  less  of  an  hiatus  at  this  stage,  be- 
cause there  is  so  much  that  is  powerfully  stimu- 
lating1 in  nature  study: 

7.  There  are  certain  peculiar  difficulties  con- 
nected with  the  reading  of  longer  classics  which 
are  much  less  frequently  met  with  in  the  usual 
school  readers.  These  difficulties  are  of  such  a 
real  and  serious  kind  that  many  teachers  are  apt 
to  be  discouraged  before  success  is  attained.  Com- 
plete classics  like  Webster's  speeches,  Julius 
Cassar,  Snow  Bound,  Marmion,  and  Evangeline 
have  been  regarded  as  too  long  and  difficult  for 
school  purposes.  We  have  found,  however,  that 
the  greater  length,  if  rightly  utilized,  only  inten- 
sifies the  effect  of  a  masterpiece.  The  chief  ob- 
jection is  the  greater  language  difficulty  (hard  and 
unusual  words,  proper  names,  etc.,)  of  the  longer 
classics.  This  is  a.  real  obstacle  and  must  be 
fairly  met.  It  is  impossible  to  grade  down  the 
language  and  though.t  of  a  classic.  It  is  neces- 
sary to  bring  the  class  up  to  its  level  rather  than 
bring  it  down  to  theirs.  This  requires  time  and 
skill  and  perseverance  on  the  teacher's  part,  and 
labor  and  thought  in  the  children.  It  may  re- 
quire a  week  or  a  month  to  get  a  class  well  under 
way  in  Lady  of  the  Lake,  King  of  the  Golden 


128  Special  Method. 

River,  or  the  Sketch  Book.  But  when  well  done 
it  is  a  conquest  of  no  mean  importance.  The  lan- 
guage, style,  and  characteristics  of  the  author  are 
strange  and  difficult.  The  scales  must  drop  from 
children's  eyes  before  they  will  appreciate  Rus- 
kin,  or  Tennyson,  or  Emersbn.  The  wings  of 
fancy,  the  aesthetic  sense,  do  not  unfold  in  a  single 
day.  But  if  these  initial  difficulties  can  be  over- 
come we  shall  emerge  soon  into  the  sunlight  of  in- 
terest and  success.  It  takes  a  degree  of  faith  in 
good  things  and  patience  under  difficulties  to  at- 
tain success  in  classic  readings.  Even  when  the 
teacher  thinks  he  is  doing  fairly  well,  the  parents 
sometimes  say  the  work  is  too  hard  and  the  verbal 
difficulties  too  great.  Generally,  however,  par- 
ents are  satisfied  when  children  work  hard  and, are 
interested. 

Again,  children,  whose  reading  in  the  lower 
grades  has  been  of  the  information  order,  lack  the 
imaginative  power  that  is  essential  to  the  grasp 
and  enjoyment  of  any  masterpiece.  The  sleeping 
or  dulled  fancy  must  be  awakened.  The  power  to 
image  things,  so  natural  to  the  poet,  must  be 
aroused  and  exercised.  The  lack  of  training  in 
vivid  and  poetic  thought  in  early  years  is  sure  to 
make  itself  felt  in  deficient  and  languid  thought 
and  feeling  in  the  higher  grades.  But  we  cannot 
afford  to  give  up  the  struggle.  We  may  be  forced 
to  begin  lower  down  in  the  series  of  books,  but 


Heading.  12!> 

anything1  less  than  a  classic  is  not  fit  for  the 
children. 

8.  The  leading  publishing  houses  are  now  com- 
peting" vigorously  in  bringing"  out  the  best  com- 
plete classics  in  cheap,  durable,  well-printed  form 
for  school  use.  In  our  list  the  names  of  the  pub- 
lishers are  given.  Most  of  the  companies  can  be 
addressed  in  Chicago.  Where  this  is  not  the  case 
the  city  is  usually  given.  Most  of  the  companies 
publish  the  classics  complete.  Maynard,  Merrill 
&  Co.  have  abbreviated  many  of  the  classics  in 
their  extensive  series.  Some  teachers  may  prefer 
them  for  this  reason.  Most  of  the  books  bound 
in  boards  or  cloth  range  in  price  from  twenty-five 
to  fifty  cents.  The  pamphlet  editions  are  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  cents.  The  larger  books  of  mis- 
cellaneous collections  and  some  of  the  science 
classics  range  from  seventy-five  cents  to  a  dollar 
and  a  quarter. 

Persons  so  desiring  may  order  any  of  the  books 
through  the  Public-School  Publishing  Co.,  of 
Bloomington,  111. 


130  Special  Method. 

Lists  of  choice  reading"  matter  for  the  grades: 

FIRST  GRADE— First  Series. 

Cyrs  Primer,  Ginn  &  Co. 

Cyrs  First  Reader,  Ginn  &  Co. 

First  Reader  (Hodskins),  Ginn  &  Co. 

Riverside  Primer  and  First  Reader,  Houghton,  Mifflin 
&  Co. 

Nature  Stories  for  Young  Readers  (Plants),  D.  C. 
Heath  &  Co. 

/Second  Series. 

Bow-Wow  and  Mew-Mew,  Maynard,  Merrill  &  Co. 
A  Child's  Garden  of  Verses.  Chas.  Scribner's  Sons. 

Selections  to  be  made  from  the  latter  book  by 
the  teacher. 

Third  Series. 

The  Adventures  of  a  Brownie  (for  teacher)  Harper 
Brothers,  New  York. 

Kindergarten  Stories  and  Morning  Talks  (Wiltse), 
Ginn  &  Co. 

Talks  for  Kindergartens  and  Primary  Schools  (Wiltse) , 
Ginn  &  Co. 

The  last  three  books  supply  interesting1  stories 
to  read  to  the  children. 

In  the  first  half  of  the  first  grade  the  exercises 
in  reading  are  mostly  script  lessons  on  the  black- 
board, and  chart  work.  Reading  books,  therefore, 
will  be  less  employed  than  in  any  other  grade, 
and  these  of  the  simplest  possible  kind  which  con- 
tain well  expressed  and  interesting  thought 


Reading.  i:;i 

SECOND  GRADE— First  Series. 

Nature  Stories  for  Young  Readers  (Continued),  D.  C. 
Heath  &  Co. 

Easy  Steps  for  Little  Feet,  American  Book  Co. 

Classic  Stories  for  the  Little  Ones,  Public-School  Pub- 
lishing Co.,  Bloomington,  111. 

Verse  and  Prose  for  Beginners,  Houghton,  Mifllin&Co. 

Grimm's  Fairy  Tales  (Wiltse),  Ginn  &  Co. 

Second  Series. 

Heart  of  Oak,  No.  1,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

German  Fairy  Tales  (Grimm),  Maynard,  Merrill  &  Co. 

Fables  and  Folk  Lore  (Scudder),  Houghton.  Mifflin  A: 
Co. 

Nature  Stories  for  Young  Readers  (Animals),  D.  C. 
Heath  &  Co. 

Cat-Tails  and  Other  Tales,  Kindergarten  Literature 
Co. 

Danish  Fairy  Tales  (Andersen),  Maynard,  Merrill  &  Co. 

Third  Series. 

Poetry  for  Children  (Eliot).  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
The  Story  Hour  (Wiggin),  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

The  last  two  books  are  for  use  by  the  teacher, 
containing  selections  for  occasional  use,  reading 
or  tellinir  them  to  the  children. 


THIRD  GRADE— First  Series. 

Robinson  Crusoe,  Public-School  Publishing  Co. 
Golden  Book  of  Choice  Reading,  American  Book  Co. 
^ZEsop's  Fables  (Stickney),  Ginn  &  Co. 
Andersen's  Fairy  Tales,  Part  I,  Ginn  &  Co. 
Seven  Little  Sisters,  Ginn  &  Co. 
Heart  of  Oak,  No.  2,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 


K52  Special  Method. 

Second  Series. 

Hans  Andersen's  Stories,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
Fairy  Tales  in  Verse  and  Prose  (Rolfe),  Harper  & 
Brothers,  New  York. 

Stories  Mother  Nature  Told  Her  Children,  Ginn  &  Co. 
Andersen's  Fairy  Tales,  Part  II,  Ginn  &  Co. 
Open  Sesame,  Part  I,  Ginn  &  Co. 

The  last  book  contains  a  variety  of  selections 
in  verse  of  the  choicest  charecter,  which  may  be 
used  by  the  teacher  to  supplement  the  reading'  of 
third  and  fourth  grades.  A  set  of  these  books'for 
occasional  use  is  needed. 

Third  Series. 

Child  Life  in  Poetry,  Houghton.  Miffln  &  Co. 
Child  Life  in  Prose,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
Stories  from  the  History  of  Rome,  Macmillan. 
My  Saturday  with  a  Bird  Class,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
Little  Lucy's  Wonderful  Globe  (Yonge),  MacMillan. 
Robinson  Crusoe,  Maynard,  Merrill  &  Co. 
Arabian  Nights,  Aladdin.  Maynard,  Merrill  &  Co. 

The  third  list  consists  of  books  which  may  be 
occasionally  read  to  the  class.  Some  of  th  m 
may  be  simple  enough  for  sight-reading.  They 
may  serve  also  for  collateral  or  home  reading. 


FOURH  GRADE— First  Series. 

Hawthorne's  Wonder  Book,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
Stories  of  the  Old^World  (Church),  Ginn  &  Co. 
Ulysses  Among  the^Phasacians  (Bryant),  Houghton 
Mifflin  &  Co. 

Kingsley's  Water  Babies,  Macmillan,  Ginn  &  Ce. 


Heading,  !:{.•{ 

Six  Stories  from  the  Arabian  Nights,  Houghton,  Mitl'- 
lin  &  Co. 

Gulliver's  Voyage  to  Lilliput,  Maynard,  Merrill  &  Co. 

Second  Series. 

Kingsley's  Greek  Heroes,  Ginn  &  Co. 
Story  of  the  Illiad,  Macmillan. 

Hawthorne's  Tanglewood  Tales,  Houghton,  Miftiin  & 
Co. 

Tales  from  Spenser,  Macmillan. 

Arabian  Nights  (Hale),  Ginn  &  Co. 

Gods  and  Heroes,  Ginn  &  Co. 

Open  Sesame,  Vol.  II.  (Selected  parts).  Ginn  &  Co. 

Third  Series. 

Heroes  of  Asgard,  Macmillan. 

Story  of  the  Odyssey,  Macmillan. 

Gulliver's  Travels,  Ginn  &  Co. 

Tales  of  Troy,  Public-School  Publishing  Co. 

Homer's  Illiad,  Books  1-8  (Pope),  Maynard.  Merrill  & 
Co. 

Adventures  of  Ulysses  (Lamb),  Ginn  &  Co. 

Open  Sesame,  Vol.  I  (Continued),  Ginn  &  Co. 

Up  and  Down  the  Brook  (Ramford),  Houghton.  Miff- 
lin  &  Co. 

Homer,  The  Odyssey  (Collins),  J.  B.  Lippencott  &  Co., 
Philadelphia. 

Homer,  The  Illiad  (Collins),  J.  B.  Lippencott  &  Co., 
Philadelphia. 

The  last  four  books  are  of  special  value  to  the 
teacher.  •* 

FIFTH  GRADE — First  Series. 
Hiawatha,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.;  May- 
nard, Merrill  &  Co. 


l-'{4  Special  Method. 

Black  Beauty,  Public-School  Publishing  Co. 

Songs  of  Labor,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

King  of  the  Golden  River,  Ginn  &  Co. 

Higginson's  American  Explorers  (pamphlets  or  bound 
volume),  Lee  &  Shepherd,  Boston. 

Wake  Robin  (selections  by  teacher),  Houghton,  Miff- 
lin  &  Co. 

Second  Series. 

Tales  from  English  History,  Harper  Brothers,  N.  Y. 

Ten  Boys  on  the  Road  from  Long  Ago,  Ginn  &  Co. 

Heroic  Ballads,  Ginn  &  Co. 

Stories  from  Herodotus,  Maynard,  Merrill  &  Co. 

Heart  of  Oak,  No.  3  (two  or  three  grades),  D.  C.  Heath 
&  Co. 

Children's  Treasury  of  English  Song  (Choice  poems 
fourth  to  seventh  grades),  Macmillan. 

Third  Series. 

Tales  of  Chivalry,  Harper  Brothers,  N.  Y. 
Magna  Charta  Stories,   Inter-State   Publishing  Co.r 
Boston. 

Stories  of  Colonial  Children,  Ed.  Pub.  Co. 
Stories  of  Our  Country,  American  Book  Co. 
Stories  of  Other  Lands,  American  Book  Co. 
Ballad  Book,  Leach,  Shewell  &  Sanborn. 
Pioneer  History  Stories,  Public-School  Publishing  Co. 
Book  of  Golden  Deeds  (Younge),  Macmillan. 
•    The  Foot-Path  Way  (Torrey),  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

Several  of  these  books  are  not  classics,  but 
they  contain  interesting  historical  and  biograph- 
ical stories  which  reveal  the  spirit  of  this  legend- 
ary and  heroic  epoch,  from  which  many  of  the 
ballads  and  other  poems  spring. 


SIXTH  (TRADE  -First  S<  /•/<>•. 
Grandfather's  Chair,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
The  Sketch  Book,  Ginn  &  Co.;  Am.  Book  Co.;  May- 
nard,  Merrill  &  Co. 

Miles  Standish,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
Snow  Bound,  etc.,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
Tales  of  a  Grandfather,  Ginn  &  Co. 
Birds  and  Bees,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

Second  Series. 

The  Christmas-Carol, Houghton, Mifflin  &  Co.:  Maynard, 
Merrill  cS;  Co. 

The  Stories  of  Waverly,  Macmillan. 

The  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  Ginn  &  Co.:  Maynard, 
Merrill  &  Co. 

Autobiography  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  Ginn   &  Co.: 
Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.;  Maynard.  Merrill  &  Co. 

Hunting  of  the  Deer,  etc.,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  C'o. 

Heart  of  Oak,  No.  4,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

Golden  Treasury  of  Songs  and  Lyrics  (for  teacher), 
Macmillan. 

Third  Series. 

Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Ginn  £  Co. 

Jason's  Quest,  Leach.  Shewell  &  Sanborn. 

Ten  Great  Events  in  History,  American  Book  Co. 

Madam  How  and  Lady  Why  (Kingsley),  Macmillan. 

Ivanhoe,  Ginn  &  Co. 

Rob  Roy,  Ginn  &  Co. 


SEVENTH  GRAVE— First  Series. 

Evangeline,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.;  Maynard,  Merrill 
&  Co. 

Grandmother's  Story  of  Bunker  Hill,  etc.,  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Co. 


l.'J()  Special  Method. 

Sella,  Thanatopsis,  and  other  poems,  Houghton,  Miff- 
lin  &  Co.;  Maynard,  Merrill  &  Co. 

Washington's  Rules  of  Conduct,  etc.,  Houghton,  Miff- 
lin  &  Co. 

Declaration  of  Independence  (Old  South  Leaflets),  D. 
C.  Heath  &  Co. 

Tales  of  Shakespeare  (Lamb),  Macmillan. 

Sharp  Eyes  and  Other  Papers,  Houghton.  Mifflin  &  Co. 

Second  Series. 

Tales  of  the  White  Hills  (Hawthorne),  Houghton,  Miff- 
lin &  Co. 

Enoch  Arden  and  The  Lotus  Eaters,  Maynard,  Merrill 
&  Co. 

Sohrab  and  Rustum, Leach,  Shewell  &  Sanborn;  Ameri- 
can Book  Co. 

Bunker  Hill  Monument  (Webster),  Ginn  &  Co.:  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  &  Co.;  Leach,  Shewell  &  Sauborn;  American 
Book  Co. 

Poor  Richard's  Almanac,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

Seven  American  Classics,  American  Book  Co. 

Open  Sesame,  Vol.  Ill,  Ginn  &  Co. 

Third  Series. 

Cricket  on  the  Hearth,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.;  May- 
nard, Merrill  &  Co. 

George  Washington  (Scudder),  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

The  Succession  of  Forest  Trees,  Houghton,  Miffl  in  &  Co. 

The  Two  Great  Retreats,  Ginn  &  Co. 

Peasant  and  Prince,  Ginn  &  Co. 

Rab  and  His  Friends  (Brown),  Home  Book  Co.;  May- 
nard, Merrill  &  Co. 

Silas  Marner  (Eliot),  Leach,  Shewell  &  Sanborn. 


EIGHTH  GRADE— First  Series. 
Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,  Houghton,  Mifflin  £  Co. 
Under  the  Old  Elm,  etc.,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 


.  r.r, 

Julius  Caesar,  American  Book  Co. 

Lady  of  the  Lake,  American  Book  Co.;  Maynard,  Mer- 
rill &  Co.:  Ginn  &  Co.;  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

Burke's  American  Orations,  D.  C.  Heath  \-  Co.:  May- 
nard, Merrill  &  Co. 

Webster's  Reply  to  Hayne,  Maynard,  Merrill  &  Co. 

Lincoln's  Gettysburg  Speech,  etc.,  Houghton,  Mifflin 

A-  ( to. 

Second  Series. 

Merchant  of  Venice,  American  Book  Co.;  Ginn  &  Co. 

Marmion,  Ginn  &  Co.;  Maynard,  Merrill  &  Co.;  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

Masterpiece  of  American  Literature,  Houghton,  Miff- 
lin &  Co. 

Roger  de  Coverly  Papers,  American  Book  Co.:  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  &  Co.;  Leach,  Shevvell  &  Sanborn. 

Heart  of  Oak,  No.  5,  D.  C.  Heath  £  Co. 

Words  of  Lincoln,  Maynard,  Merrill  &  Co. 

Selections  from  Ruskin,  Ginn  &  Co.:  Leach,  Shewell 
A:  Sanborn. 

Emerson's  Fortune  of  the  Republic,  etc.,  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Co. 

Third  Series. 

Bacon's  Essays,  Ginn  &  Co.;  Maynard,  Merrill  &  Co. 

The  Holy  Grail  and  Sir  Galahad,  Maynard,  Merrill  & 
Co. 

The  American  Scholar,  etc.  (Emerson),  American 
Book  Co. 

Plutarch's  Lives,  Ginn  &  Co. 

Vicar  of  Wakefield,  Ginn  &  Go. 

Rasselas,  Leach,  Shewell  &  Sanborn;  Ginn  £  Co. 


PUBLIC-SCHOOL 
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WAR  6      1961 

MAR  1 4     63 

JAN  7    1965 

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